' XXIII. PALM^E. 819 



endocarp thick, woody, marked with 3 scars, 1 of which corresponds to the embryo. 

 Seed oily ; albumen homogeneous. Embryo basilar. 



PKINCIPAL GENERA. 



Desmoncus. Acrocomia. * Cocos. Bactris. 



Astrocaryum. Diplotheinium. Gulielma. Attalea. 



Maximiliana. Martinezia. * Elaeis. * Jubrea. 



Palms are not closely allied to any of the families in the division to which they belong ; although 

 Cyclanthece, Nipacets and Phytelephasiea approach them in their sheathing flabellate or pinnate leaves and 

 inflorescence. Endlicher notices some resemblance in habit between the Palms and the arundinaceous 

 Grasses, but R. Brown does not admit this analogy, and rather considers Palms as near Juncea; through 

 Xerotes and Flagdlaria. 



Palms belong [almost] exclusively to the torrid zone and to the hottest regions of the temperate 

 zone. The species which extend furthest from the equator do not advance higher than 44 north latitude, 

 and 39 south latitude (Areca sapida, New Zealand), and these are but few in number. Even in 

 the tropics they are very unequally distributed, and are most abundant where great heat is accompanied 

 by great humidity. They are numerous in India and its Archipelago; they abound in Central America ; 

 but they are comparatively rare in Africa on account of the long droughts. One alone, the Dwarf Palm 

 (Chamesrops Jiumilis),is a native of South Europe; it is more abundant on the neighbouring shores 

 of Africa, forming a link between the Mediterranean and the sub-tropical regions of Africa. The Date 

 (Phoenix dactylifera) is a native of Arabia and Africa. Certain Palms are social, and occupy immense 

 tracts ; some grow in inundated savannahs (Iriartea), others in arid plains. 



The trunk of Palms is very various in size ; that of Oreodoxa frigida is scarcely equal to a small *eed, 

 while that of Jubcea measures more than three feet in diameter. Certain species are stemless ; others rise 

 to 250 feet in height. The number of flowers borne by a Palm is sometimes prodigious; 12,000 male 

 flowers have been counted in a single Date spathe ; 207,000 in a spathe, and 600,000 in a single individual 

 of Alfonsia amygdaiina. 



The family of Palms, of which nearly 1,000 species are now known, ranks next to Grnim'nees in 

 utility. Perhaps there is no species for which a use is not found in domestic or industrial economy. All 

 yield textile fibres, useful especially in the manufacture of paper ; their large leaves serve to thatch 

 houses, and cut in strips are made into cords, mats, baskets, hats and various utensils. The wood of 

 many is used in house building. Some contain an edible starch in their trunks, others have a sugary 

 fermentable sap ; certain species are valuable for their fruit, others for the oil in their seed or pericarp. 

 In many Palms the central bud is, when young, a highly esteemed vegetable. Finally, Palms yield 

 several interesting medicinal products. Saffus Rumphii, leevis and genuina, which grow in the Moluccas, 

 contain a very nourishing farinaceous pith, known as Sago ; and several Mauritice, from tropical America, 

 rival the Sago Palm in this respect. Arenga sacc/iarifera, Corypha umbracutifera, Borassus Jlabelliformix, 

 Cocos nucifera, Sagus Rumphii, Raphia, Mauritia vmifera [and some species of Caryota and Phoenix], 

 possess an abundant sap, from which sugar is extracted, or which is converted by fermentation into an 

 alcoholic drink known as Toddy, Palm Wine, Laymi and Arrack. 



The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is a dioecious tree. Each female flower produces three 

 berries, of which two are usually arrested ; their solid flesh, of a vinous, sugary taste, somewhat viscous, 

 serves as food to the Negros and Arabs who live in the Belad-el-Djerid, or Date country, situated to the 

 south of the Atlas, and extending from Morocco to Tunis. 



The Cocoa-nut (Cocos nucifera), which affects the coasts throughout the tropics, is called by some 

 travellers the King of Plants, a name expressive of its great value. Its stem and leaves, and the fibres 

 which accompany them, and its fruit, suffice for all the wants of the inhabitants of the torrid zone ; it 

 yields sugar, milk, solid cream, wine, vinegar, oil, cordage, cloth, cups, wood for building, thatch, &c. 



The Cabbage Palm is an Areca, the cabbage ' being its central bud ; but many other Palms yield a 

 cabbage much larger and more sapid ; these are Cocos nucifera, Aretu/a saccharifera, UkmMMM regia, 



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