ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. 135 



sometimes arranged like the teeth of a comb, set on in the 

 same plane, and close to each other, and having a very rigid 

 parenchyma (as in Cocos, and in Phoenix the genus to 

 which the Date belongs) ; whence the fine play of light 

 from the sun-beams falling on the upper surface of the 

 leaves (which is of a fresher verdure in Cocos, and of 

 a more dead and ashy hue in the date palm) ; sometimes 

 the leaves are flag-like, of a thinner and more flexible 

 texture, and curl towards the extremities (as in Jagua, 

 Palma Eeal del Sinu, Palma Eeal de Cuba, and Piritu dell' 

 Orinoco). The peculiarly majestic character of palms is 

 given not only by their lofty stems, but also in a very high 

 degree by the direction of their leaves. It is part of the 

 beauty of any particular species of palms that its leaves 

 should possess this aspiring character; and not only in 

 youth, as is the case in the Date-palm, but also throughout 

 the duration of the life of the tree. The more upright the 

 direction of the leaves, or, in other words, the more acute 

 the angles which they form with the upper part or continu- 

 ation of the stem, the grander and more imposing is the 

 general character and physiognomy of the tree. How 

 different are the character and aspect given by the droop- 

 ing leaves of the Palma de covija del Orinoco y de los 

 Llanos de Calabozo (Corypha tectorum) ; the more nearly 

 horizontal or at least less upright leaves of the Date and 

 Cocoa-nut palms; and the aspiring heavenward pointing 

 branches of the Jagua, the Cucurito, and the Pirijao ! 



Nature has lavished every beauty of form on the Jagua 

 palm, which, intermingled with the Cucurito or Vadgihai, 



