42 MONOCOTYLEDONE.&. 



it flowers and ripens its fruit. If it be a sort whose 

 flowers are terminal, the maturation of the fruit is 

 the termination of the life of the plant. But the 

 generality of palms exsert their flowers laterally 

 from the axillae of the fronds, the latter being con- 

 tinually produced from the centre of the stem, 

 succeeding each other for a long series of years. 

 Here it may be observed, that the palms, and all 

 such constituted plants, gain altitude and diameter 

 of stem by the progressive evolution of the leaves 

 which rise from the interior : of course the body of 

 the stem is enlarged by accretions or expansions 

 within, not by concentric layers of ligneous matter 

 on the exterior, as is the case with dicotyledonous 

 shrubs and trees. The stem is, therefore, uniform in 

 arrangement, composed of strong membranous fibres, 

 embedded in suberous cellular matter, and without 

 a distinct bark. Some of the palms have a notable 

 pith, which may be separated from the fibres which 

 surround and exist in it, and manufactured into a 

 granular substance, commonly used as an article of 

 diet by the natives of India. 



The common beverage of the inhabitants of Coro- 

 mandel, called toddy, is drawn from the Cocos and 

 some other palms, and obtained thus : as soon as the 

 spadix turns downward its point is cut off, and from 

 the wound flows the liquor, which is caught in pitchers 

 slung to the stump. Thus collected, it is put toge- 

 ther in a large vessel where it is allowed to ferment 

 for a short time, when it is fit for use. This liquor is 



