PALM 



PALM 



1195 



teen years, with ordinary care. Archontophcenijc A lex- 

 <in<lri' and .1. Ctuini ni/lnunii, the most elegant of our 

 Palms after Cocos ]>lumosd, are not quite so hardy hut 

 will thrive from Santa Barbara southward, in warm 

 locations. The same exposures, with shade during the 

 hottest part of the day, will do for Hedyscepe <(!<>- 

 bur iiana and Hoivea Forata-iana and If. Belmorcmui ; 

 t&BO' SkopalogtyU* Jiaut'ri and R. sapida. The four 

 species of Sabals seem to thrive and seed well in this 

 section, though S. Palmetto and S. Black'bumi<nuuii 

 grow much faster than the others. HhapidopJiylliun 

 Hystrix is perfectly hardy, but on account of its dwarf 

 habit is not so extensively planted as its merits deserve. 

 Rhapls fla belli formis and JR. humilis need protection 

 from sun alone, though there is a Rhapis growing for 

 ten years without protection from either sun or frost, 

 and in the coldest section of Los Angeles, but its color is 

 not all that could be desired. Chamoedoreas are planted 

 only where they can be protected from both frost and 

 sun, though they thrive better under such circumstances 

 than they do under glass. In such situations they are 

 just the plant for the purpose, as they do not grow 

 away from the protecting tree as do sun- and light- 

 loving Palms, but remain erect. Braliea dulcis may 

 occasionally be seen but grows too slowly to be popu- 

 lar. One of our grandest and hardiest Palms, one that 

 deserves for many reasons to be more extensively 

 planted, is Jubcpa spectabilis. We have a few 20 feet in 

 height with a bole 4 feet in diameter, and are much 

 more striking in appearance than any of the Phoenix, 

 which latter they somewhat resemble. 



ERNEST BBAUNTON. 



The word Palm is a popular designation of one of the 

 largest and most important families among the mono- 

 cotyledons, about 1,200 species of Palms having 

 been recorded, though many of these are not yet 

 in cultivation. The members of this family are 

 essentially tropical in habitat, are highly orna- 

 mental in appearance, and many of them also of 

 very great economical value, their 

 fruits, stems and leaves not only 

 entering largely into the manufac- 

 tured products of both Europe and 

 America, but also providing both 

 food and shelter for thousands of 

 the inhabitants of tropical coun- 

 tries. One notable characteristic 

 of Palms in general is their un- 

 branched stems, the exceptions to 

 this rule being very few, and 

 mostly limited to the members of 

 one genus, Hyphcene, of which the 

 Doum Palm of Egypt, H. Thebaica, 

 is the best example. While these 

 unbranched stems form a promi- 

 nent feature in connection with 

 this order of plants, yet great va- 

 riations are found in size and habit; 

 some of them towering up like a 

 slender marble shaft to a height of 

 rrio're than 100 feet and then termi- 

 nating in a crown of magnificent 

 plume-like leaves, while others may 

 reach a height of only 3-1 feet 

 when fully developed. In some in- 

 stances the stems are so long and 

 slender that a scandent habit is 

 the result ; these rope-like stems 

 of the Rattan Palms in particular 

 are described as wandering through 

 the tops of some of the great trees 

 of the Malayan Peninsula to a 

 length of several hundred feet. 



The foliage of the Palms is of 

 two chief kinds, the fan - veined 

 leaves, in which the venation radi- 

 ates from a common center, and 

 the feather-veined, in which the 

 veins run out from the sides of a 



long midrib, the leaf being frequently divided into long, 

 narrow segments. Of the first group the common Fan 

 Palm, I/ivistona Sinensis, is a good example, while the 

 Date Palm, Phcenix dactylifera, and also the Cocoanut, 



Cocos nucifera, are common examples of the feather- 

 veined class. 



There are also minor characteristics of foliage that 

 mark many of the genera, some having pinnate leaves 

 with erose tips, a few having bipiunate leav. 

 Caryota tit-ens), others with flabellate leaves having 

 erose segments, and many with the segments of the 

 leaves bifid or split at the tips. 



The flowers of Palms in general are not specially at- 

 tractive either in size or coloring, many of them being 

 greenish white or yellow, and some orange or red; but 

 these flowers are produced in prodigious quantities by 

 some of the species, perhaps the most prolific in this 

 respect being the Talipot Palm ( Corypha umbracullf- 

 era), which throws up a branching inflorescence to a 

 height of 30 ft. above the foliage, such an inflorescence 

 having been estimated to include fully sixty millions of 

 flowers ! 



The seeds of Palms are also found in many sizes and 

 various shapes, ranging from the size of a pea in some 

 of the Thrinax to the unwieldy fruits of the Double 

 Cocoanut, Lodoicea Sechellarum, which will sometimes 

 weigh 40 Ibs. each and require several years to reach 

 maturity. 



As a rule, the members of any single genus of Palms 

 are found in one hemisphere, either the eastern or 

 western as the case may be, probably the greater num- 

 ber of species being of Asiatic origin, and compara- 

 tively few being found in Africa. An apparent excep- 

 tion is found to this system of hemispheric distribution 

 in the case of the Cocoanut, this plant being so very 

 widely distributed throughout the tropical world that 

 its original habitat is still in doubt. On the other hand, 

 some species are found to be very local in their natural 



1623. 



A digitate-leaved Palm, and one of the best Palms for small conservatories- 

 Rhapis flabelliformis. 



state, in proof of which the Howeas may be cited; this 

 genus has been found only within the circumscribed 

 area of Lord Howe's Island, which from a comparative 

 point of view may be termed merely a fragment of land 



