THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 41 



In Feather-Palms the petioles either burst from the dry, rough, 

 woody portion of the stem (Cocos nucifera, Plicenioo dactylifera), or 

 there rises in the rough part of the stem a grass-green, smooth, and 

 thinner shaft, like one column above another, from which the petioles 

 spring (Oreodoaa regid). A special character of melancholic solemnity 

 and grandeur is added to the tree, when in Fan-Palms the living 

 foliage rests on a circle of dead leaves. 



There are various ways in which the leaf-blade protects itself 

 against the influence of too intensive sun-light and the violent force 

 of the rain. Fan-leaves as well as feathery leaves very often assume 

 an inclined or even vertical position. This is effected either by the 

 torsion of the pefiole or by the leaf-stalk trying to get into a more 

 upright position. It is not uncommon that the two rows of pinnae are 

 turned upwards till they form a small angle with each other 

 {ChrysaUdocarpus lutescens), and even the two halves of a fan-leaf 

 are sometimes seen to close upon each other — just like a half-open 

 book. 



The Root. — After germination the primary root soon perishes and 

 is replaced by adventitious roots springing from the base of the stem. 

 In the South American genus Iriartea, development takes place 

 above ground, the short stem being supported by prop-like adventi- 

 tious roots, which increase in size with the increase in circumference 

 of the shoot. The Sabal-Palm, Wax-Palm, and others, differ in that 

 they form on the surface a short, horizontal rhizome, which becomes 

 gradually thicker until the normal sized leaf-rosette is produced, 

 when it begins to grow erect and forms the cylindrical stem. At the 

 base the stem is often conically thickened. This gives the necessary 

 mechanical rigidity, in consequence of which the stem does not 

 curve in a gale but bends from the base, from a position like | to one 

 like /. The mechanical physiology of stem and root is on the whole 

 very little known. Why, e.g., the stems of Cocos and other palms 

 are curved — and not straight, we are not yet able to explain. 



The Flower. — The ilowersof a palm are never solitary ; they always 

 form a usually very large and much branched inflorescence. This is 

 either a simple or compound spike, or a richly branched panicle. 

 The branching is racemose and the flowers are often embedded in the 

 fleshy surface of the branches ; for this reason it is customary to call 

 the inflorescence a spadix. In the Talipot and Metroxylon it is 



