28 THE PALM FAMILY. 



quantities. To this suppression of its growth, the tree must In time 

 naturally succumb. Its trunks are desirable for wharf-piles as they are not 

 eaten by sea worms. Polished cross sections of the stem also are made 

 into small ornamental table tops while canes as well are cut from the wood. 



It is now a matter of history that on June 28th, 1776, a small force of 

 less than a hundred Carolinians under command of Moultrie, repulsed 

 successfully an attack of the British fleet commanded by Sir Peter Parker. 

 They were on Sullivan's Island in the habour of Charleston behind a primi- 

 tive fortification made of palmetto trunks. Through this wood a ball can 

 only pass with difficulty, its resistance being very like that of cork, and the 

 perforation it makes in entering closes very shortly. Then the wood is not 

 subject to splitting. This victory is commemorated by the state seal of 

 South Carolina. An erect palm tree represents the strength of the forti- 

 fication, while a prostrate oak typifies the British fleet of oak timber. 



S. glabra, dwarf sabal, or swamp palmetto, bears from its short, buried 

 stem very large, glaucous leaves. To their rounded bases the numerous 

 narrow divisions nearly extend, while at their summits they are slightly 

 two-cleft. Their margins are thick and divide but sparingly into threadlike 

 filaments. The petioles are stout, triangular and rounded on the lower 

 surface. Very abundantly the black, lustrous drupes are produced in their 

 long clusters and each one contains a round, depressed seed. In woods 

 of the lower districts, especially near Jacksonville, and occurring northward 

 to the Carolinas it may be sought for among the palms. 



SAW PALMETTO. SCRUB PALHETTO. {Plate X) 



Serenoa scrrulata. 



Stem : creeping. l)ranching, shrubby. Leaves: large, their petioles with pointed 

 saw-like teeth along their margins ; circular; fan-shajied, square or wedge-shapetl 

 at the base and divided into numerous slightly two-cleft divisions, bright green. 

 Sinuses: without filaments. Spadix : shorter than the leaves, densely tomentose. 

 Petals: three, small. Staweiis : six. Drupe: black; ovoid-oblong. 



All through swampy places in its natural habitat, sometimes covering 

 acres where grows the long leaved pine, or jostling side by side along sandy 

 shores with tall grasses and wild flowers, this low and spreading palm is as 

 distinctive a feature of the undergrowth as is the palmetto of arborescent- 

 life. And on the Floridan keys wdiere the landscape shows no mountains 

 or ravines, no fast-flowing streams or graceful valleys, great clumps of it 

 are tossed backwards by the breeze, or the leaves rest motionless in the 

 humid air. 



