1192 PALAUA 



solitary; calyx 5-cut: ovary many-celled; style stigma- 

 tose at the apex; carpels crowded witbout order. 



flexudsa, Mast. Slender, branched from roots: stems 

 8-10 in. long, ascending, flexuous above: leaf-stalks 1-2 

 in. long; blades 1-2 in. long and broad, triangular in out- 

 line, pinnatifid, the segments lobed; lobes obtuse: fls. 

 mauve, paler towards center, with bright red anthers 

 which are very numerous and arranged in 5 longitudinal 

 series; styles 25-30. Peru. B.M. 5768. 



palAva. 



Palau 



PALItTRUS (ancient Greek name). Mliamndcea. 

 Spiny trees or shrubs with alternate, 2-ranked, 3-nerved 



Ivs., 'small greenish yellow fls. in axillary clusters and 



oi-liiriiha- l.i";iilly Willi', cl, ,-iiriuu-.lv >Iki]h'.I fruits resem- 



>:\«,- -.,},.■:,.] «,il, a liHKMl liniui iliat. Tlir .MH^specles 



culiivatr,! ,,, ll,,- r,„inli\ IV iM.t r,.|i;,Mx l,;,,M> north of 

 \\;,-l.ir,_'t"i,. |i. I'.: in \la--. II 1- !.iii-i . i r ry winter 



vli....- . '. ,,•,', ....,■ I ;. . ■ , . , . .liuiiental, 



:iv II,'. ■ . . i : ■ • I , . - ,i .j ~..il and 



pri-l'T- a --11111} aiiil x'.ariii pii-ilaai. I'r'.['. hy seeds 



tings. Pour species from S. Europe to China and Japan. 

 Stipules usually changed into spines: fls. small, perfect, 

 in axillary or sometimes terminal cymes; petals 5, 2- 

 lolii-d; stamens 5: fr. woody, 3-celled, depressed sub- 

 j;l..l)..-i-. with a broad, orbicular, horizontal wing; cells 

 1 ■.,-(■. led. 



Spina- Christi, Mill. (P. aiislr&Hs, Gaertn. P. aculeA- 

 tus, Dest. Z. .,"'-'■ T'- •.,...^. WiUd. tthdmniis Ptili- 

 iirus, Linn), h Ihurn. Christ's Thorn. 



Spreading. >|in : ii, sometimes procumbent: 



1 of the 2 spiia - 11 I Im ,■...■ ■.( the petioles straight, the 

 other hooked anJ iiiiu\. .1. Ivs. rather slender-petioled, 

 ovate, usually unequal at the rounded base, obtuse, mi- 

 nutely serrulate, glabrous, dark green above, pale or 

 grayish beneath, %-lH in. long: fls. in axillary short- 

 peduncled cymes: fr. brownish yellow, about % in. 

 across, glabrous. June, Julv. s. 1 jm ni II imal. and N. 

 China. B.-^l. 1893 {as Zizijpli,,. J ■ . .] -r.lio (as 



P. f/n/rt/».s|.-This plant is sup) ■■ . lui-nished 



the crown of thorns which wa- i-la . i . Ii.ad of 



Christ before his crucifixion; others ii. I / ,'''>■ 



Spina-Christi to be the shrub the crown i 



These two shrubs resemble each othi-r - - '' i 



thevhardlv can be distinguished withciiii n- .viniin.- 

 berry lik.< in '/irvvlins: the shape of the ilioin, is ,-.^- 



at-tly tin - I'll. !!■ . :.rh SpCCiCS. 



/' " ; Tree, to 30 ft.: Ivs. 2-4 in. long, ela- 



Iii-"u- , , .loss, glabrous, purplish. <'hina This 



but I' .^ in [.. I i ill species is perhaps the most ornanu-ntal 



of the t:enus; it lias not proved hardy at tin \i I \i -. 



etum — P. ramomjistmtM, Foir. (P. Aubletia In. a - 

 Shnibsimilar«to P. Spina-Christi, butwith li'it I: , i 



l-irger Ivs. pubescent beneath, and small- i ;-i ■ i 



China, Japan. Alfkli. KLHi.tk. 



PALH. Plate XXIV. Palms are amongst the most 

 striking plants in tropical floras. Their tall, straight, 

 unbranched trunks surmounted by a spreading canopy 

 of huge pinnate or digitate foliage distinguish thein 

 from nearly all other forms of vegetation. They are 

 widely spread in tropical regions, being most abundant 

 in America and few in Africa. They are particularly 

 conspicuous in the Pacific isl.snds. Although the Palm's 

 are such bold and inti-nstin^- ).lants. the species are 

 very imperfectly understood. This is due to the great 

 difficulty of making liirl.ariiiiii sj.eniniens. to the fact 

 that the greater numlier of botanists are residents of 

 regions in which Palms do not -row. ami to tlie difl'er 

 ences of opinion as to the rel.iii\n iiii|...rt:iine of the 

 various botanical characters. Many "f iln I'alms have 

 been named first from cultivate. 1 s],,..iin, ti-. and often 

 before the flowers and fruits are known. When the 

 specimens finally come to fruit, the names are usually 

 shifted, causing much confusion. The proper generic 

 positiim of a Palm may be unknown for several years 

 after it becomes popular in the horticultural trade. 

 Consider the changes in nomenclature which have 

 occurred in Palms that have been referred to the 

 genera Areca and Kentia. 



PALM 



The species of Palms are not very numerous. They 

 probably do not exceed 1,000, although more than that 

 number'have been described. Bentli.ini <V lI. I > i ,i.-.-ept 

 132 genera, and Drude, in Engler iV 1'. n ! i' .in/.en- 

 familien," accept 128 genera. Jb.-i : ; ■ i.i are 



small, and many of them are nion.. \nn- in. mrirest 

 genera are Calamus, with about 2ou s|.eei.s. all Old 

 World, mostly Asian; Geonoma, with about 100 species, 

 all American; Bactris, about 100, American; Chamae- 

 dorea, with about 60, all American; Licuala, with 30, 

 ranging from eastern Asia to Australia; Desmoncus, 

 about 25, American ; Cocos, 30, all confined to America but 

 the cocoanut, which is now cosmopolitan; Pinanga, with 

 about 25 species, of the Oriental tropics; Areca, nearly 

 two dozen, Oriental. Many of the species, particularly 

 in the small genera, are restricted to very small geo- 

 graphical regions, often to one island or to a group of 

 islands. The Palms represent an old type of vegeta- 

 tion, and they are now, no doubt, on the decline. 



Palms have been favorite greenhouse subjects from 

 the period of the first development of the glass plant- 

 house. The stereotyped form of conservatory is a 

 broad or nearly square structure, with narrow benches 

 around the sides over the heating pipes and a Palm bed 

 in the center. In these conservatories a variety of 

 Palms will succeed, requiring neither a very high tem- 

 perature nor much direct sunlight. In fact. Palms usu- 

 ally succeed best under shaded roofs. The Palms are 

 most sal i-iinn I \ ill I in i I- \. .11111,' state, before the trunks 

 beconi.- \- i ; ■ i mi,, m. ami l..f..re the crowns reach 

 thegla^- Ii, ' n I iiiiil.. r .d Palms have pinnate or 

 pinnatis..! 1. n,.-, ami tins,, species are usually the 

 more gracetnl in habit, rsmall Palms are now in great 

 demand for room and table decoration, and a few spe- 

 cies are grown in enormous quantities for this trade. 

 They are sold when small. They usually perish before 

 they are lav-j-e en.-.iL'Ii t.i be cnnibersome. Amongst the 

 most p.n 1 .. ..1 III. ... Talms are Chrysalidocarpus 

 httet"''" ^^ ^' ' .".'n.i and Forsteriana, Cocos 



Weddi ' I '/'/• I's/.s, and possibly one or 



Some Palms en. lure considerable frost without injury. 

 Of such are the Sabals and the Palmettoes of the south- 

 em states. The Saw Palmetto (Serenoa serrulula) and 

 the Blue Palmetto {Bhapidophyllum Hystrix) occur as 

 far north as South Carolina. In Asia, Nannorhops grows 

 naturally as far north as 34°, and in Europe, Chamae- 

 rops (the only Palm indigenous to Europe) reaches 44°. 



In the tropics. Palms furnish houses, clothhig, food 

 and ornaments. The range of the n. ..mnii.- ii-. - is well 

 indicated by the following extract fr.' P- nn ., i:ni.'ler 

 &Prantl|: "In a family which, lil !' , is of 



nn.rl. . .,., 1 1 ., .nl,i,,'i a- an introduction to Special re- 

 nal,,- -I,, .n,nr, ',1 L. in'ra. A European does 



. 1, i , , , ' , , , I Ii,. products of the Palms 



nlin.hnr [,,.|n.! lr,,ni I In- I r.-jiics, and those which 



are use.l bv the civilized peoples and more especially by 

 the natives in the tropics. Of the first, there should be 

 noted a few fruits, as, for example, dates and cocoanuts, 

 whose use gives us a slight picture of the importance of 

 Palm fruit of the tropics. Then follows the Indian sago 

 coming from the pith of the stems, which surpasses in 

 quality the European product, and then the oil made 

 from fruits of oil Palms which, considering its almost 

 unlimited supply, is of more importance than the olive 

 oil. In Europe a great role is played by the fibers com- 

 ing from many Palms, as the Piaijaba and Cocoa fibers. 

 Perhaps, in the course of time, one or other of the 

 Palm-leaf products will find greater use in the produc- 

 tion of paper. The numerous kinds of 'Spanishschen 

 Rohres.' that is. those thin stems of the genus Calamus 

 which have a silicious covering, are necessary in the 

 making of bent-wood furniture and baskets. Wax (from 

 Copernicia, probably not from Ceroxylon) plays in 

 Europe, as a competitor of beeswax, but a small role. 

 On the other hand, the stone nuts, seeds of Phytelephas 

 and the stony kernels of some Cocoineae, are imported 

 from America in ton quantities, to be used in making 

 small articles. To these protlucts, of considerable 

 influence on the European trarle. must be added num- 

 berless others used in the tropics, where the numerous 



