108 TREES OF NORTH AMERICA 



CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARBORESCENT SPECIES. 



Spadix short ; fruit subglobose, 1-celled ; seed-coat light chestnut color. 



1. S. Palmetto (C). 



Spadix elongated ; fruit often 2 or 3-lobed, with 2 or 3 seeds ; seed-coat dark chestnut- 

 brown. 2. S. Mexicaiia (E). 



1. Sabal Palmetto, R. & S. Cabbage Tree. Cabbage Palmetto. 

 Leaves 5-6 long and 7-8 broad, dark green and lustrous, deeply divided 

 into narrow parted recurved segments, with ligules 4' long; their petioles 6-7 long 

 and \\' wide at the apex. Flowers : spadix 2-2 long, with slender incurved 

 branches, slender ultimate divisions, and thin secondary spathes flushed with red at 

 the apex and conspicuously marked by pale slender longitudinal veins. Flowers in 

 the axils of minute deciduous bracts much shorter than the perianth, opening in 



June. Fruit ripening late in the autumn, subglobose or slightly obovate, gradu- 

 ally narrowed at the base, 1-seeded, about ' in diameter ; seeds light bright chestnut- 

 colored, \' broad. 



A tree, with a trunk often 30-40 high, and 2 in diameter, broken by shallow 

 irregular interrupted fissures into broad ridges, with a short pointed knob-like under- 

 ground stem surrounded by a dense mass of contorted roots often 4 or 5 in diameter 

 and 5 or 6 deep, from which tough light orange-colored roots often nearly ^' in 

 diameter penetrate the soil for a distance of 15 or 20, and a broad crown of leaves at 

 first upright, then spreading nearly at right angles with the stem, and finally pendu- 

 lous. Wood light, soft, pale brown, with numerous hard fibro-vascular bundles, the 

 outer rim about 2' thick and much lighter and softer than the interior. In the south- 

 ern states the trunks are used for wharf-piles, and polished cross sections of the 

 stem sometimes serve for the tops of small tables; the wood is largely manufactured 

 into canes. From the sheaths of young leaves the bristles of scrubbing-brushes are 

 made. The large succulent leaf-buds are cooked and eaten as a vegetable, and coarse 

 hats, mats, and baskets are made from the leaves. Pieces of the spongy bark of the 

 stem are used as a substitute for scrubbing-brushes. 



Distribution. Sandy soil in the immediate neighborhood of the coast from 

 Smith Island at the mouth of Cape Fear River, North Carolina, to Key Largo, 



