378 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XX2. 



Species. — About 20. 



Distribution. — Sabal is confined to the New World, where it is 

 distributed from the Bermuda Islands and the south Atlantic and 

 Gulf coasts of North America through the West Indies to Vene- 

 zuela. The type has survived from the period when palm-trees 

 abounded in North America and Europe, and traces of its ances- 

 tors have been found in the lower eocene of western Europe and 

 in the lignitic formations of Colorado. During the lower miocene 

 period a large Sabal-like tree inhabited Europe as far north as 55 

 degrees, and existed in Italy until the later miocene.^ 



Uses. — The large succulent leaf-buds of the arborescent species 

 are cooked and eaten as a vegetable, although their removal kills 

 the trees. 



Coarse hats, mats, and baskets are manufactured from the leaves, 

 which also afford durable thatch for the roofs of buildings. 



Pieces of the spongy part of the stem are used as a substitute for 

 scrubbing-brushes, and in the Southern United States brushes are 

 made with the stout strong fibres of th"e sheaths of the leaf-stalks. 



Cultivation in Europe. — The species of Sabal are stove and 

 greenhouse plants, or half-hardy. Most of them are highly orna- 

 mental and thrive well in a light loamy soil. Propagation is 

 effected by means of seeds, and sometimes by suckers. These 

 should be removed from the parent plant when about 1 foot long 

 and, if they have no roots, must in the beginning be carefully 

 nursed. 



SABAL ADANSONI, Guersent in BuU. Soc. philomat. Ill, (1803) 206, t. 

 25.— Bot. Mag. 1. 1434.— Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. Ill, 246, 319, t. 103, f. 2 et 

 tab. morph. S., f. 1, t. Y,f. 4, t. Z II, f. 2, 3, 4.— Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. I, 

 239.— Shecut Fl. Carolinseens. I, 383, No. 1.— Roem. et Schult. Syst. Veg. 

 VII, 2, 1485.— H. B.Croomin SiUiman Amer. Journ. XXVI (1834), 313.— 

 Chapman, Flora of the South. Unit. Stat., 2nd ed., 438.— O. F. Cook in Bull 

 Torrey Bot. Club, 1902, 530.— Hasskarl in Retzia, I, 5.— Becc. Webbia 11. 



1 Lesquereux, Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv. VII., 112. 1. 11., f. 3, 8a, t. 12, f. 1 2. 

 Saporta Origins Pal^ontologique des Arbres, 118. 

 Zittel, Handb. Palaecontal. II, 372 



