PALM 



PALM 



1195 



tfera, are coraraon examples of the feather 



are also minor characteristics of foliage that 

 mark many of the genera, some having pinnate leaves 

 with erose tips, a few having bipinnate leaves (as 

 Caryota Keens), others with flabellate leaves having 

 erose segments, and many with the segments of the 

 leaves bitid 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 ( Corj/pAa unibraculif- 

 era), which throws up a branching inflorescence to a 

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

 having been estimated to include fullv 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, Lodoiceu Sevhellaritm, which will sometimes 

 weigh 40 lbs. 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 



teen years, with ordinary care. ArchontophcBnix Alex- Cocos i 

 andirte and A. CunniHghamii, the most elegant of our veined i 

 Palms after Cocos plumosa, are not quite so hardy but There 



will thrive from Santa Barbara southward, in warm mark n 

 locations. The same exposures, with shade during the with er 

 hottest part of the day, will do for Redyscepe Canter- 

 buryana and Howea Forsteriana and H. Belmoreana ; 

 also Rhopalostylis Baveri and B. sapida. The four 

 species of Sabals seem to thrive and seed well in this 

 section, though S. Palmetto and S. Blackbumianum 

 grow much faster than the others. Rhapidophyllum 

 Hysfrlx is perfectly hardy, but on account of its dwarf 

 habit is not so extensively planted as its merits deserve. 

 Bhapis flabelUtormis and B. 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. C'haracedoreas 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. Brahea 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 Jubcea spectahilis. 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 Braunton. 



The word Palm is a pnpnliir arsisnation of one of the 

 largest and most iiii|nu-f;niT t;uiiilifs among the mono- 

 cotyledons, about l.L'iin ^|,..i,- ,i| Palms having 



been recorded, thouf.'h many 1. 1 I lii'se are not yet >, /'ij 



in cultivation. The lu'jiubt-rri ui tliis family are ' \ ^ ■^ -^ 



essentially tropical in habit it m highly orna 

 mental in appearance, and man\ of them aKo of <<^-,^ k 

 very great economical value thur ^sv v\ ' 



fruits, stems and leaves not only _ , 



entering largely into the manufac <i^^ 



tured products of both Euro])e and ^ , •• 



America, but also providing both ^.s=^^ " ^ ^ 



food and shelter for thousands of ^ _ "^^^ - 



the inhabitants of tropical coun , *" ^ ^ '^ 



tries. One notable characteri'-tic 

 of Palms in general is their un 

 branched stems, the exceptions to 

 this rule being verv few, and 

 mostly limitc.l i.) tljc int-mbtis of 

 one genus. II v|,li:iii.'. ..r which the 

 DoumPaliii "t I'.-'M't. //. 'fliibinca, 

 is the best rx:ini|.l.-. While th( ^c 

 unbranched stems form a promi 

 nent feature in connection with 

 this order of plants, yet great i i 

 riations are found in size and habit 

 some of them towering up like i 

 slender marble shaft to a height of 

 I'no're th-an 100 feet and then ternn 

 nating in a crown of magnihtcnt 

 plume-like leaves, while others m->\ 

 reach a height of only 3-^ f i ( t 

 when fully developed. In some m 

 stances the stems are so long and 

 slender that a scandent habit is 

 the result ; these rope-like sti ms 

 of the Rattan Palms in particul ir 

 are described as wandering througli 

 the tops of some of the great tn is 

 of the Malayan Peninsula to i 

 length of several hundred feit 



The foliage of the Palms is of 

 two chief kinds, the fan-^elIl(d 

 leaves, in which the venation r idi 

 ates from a common center and 1W3 A dieitate leaved Palm and one of the best Palms for small conservatories— 

 the feather-veined, in whith tht Rhapis flabelUformis 



veins run out from the side» of a 



long midrib, the leaf being frequently divided into long, state, in proof of which the Howeas may be cited; this 

 narrow segments. Of the first group the common Fan genus has been found only within the circumscribed 

 Palm, Livistona Sinensis, is a good example, while the area of Lord Howe's Island, which from a comparative 

 Date Palm, Phoenix dactylifera, and also the Cocoanut, point of view may be termed merely a fragment of land 



