731 



the seed first sends a shoot downwards to a depth of 3-4 ft. 

 and then from the bottom of this shoot the bud which forms 

 the stem is developed (Woodrow, Blatter). These " root-buds 

 of seeds " for use as a vegetable — as described above — are 

 taken as an annual crop in October and November. The tallest 

 of African palms, trees of 70-80 ft. being often met with, re- 

 markable for the great swelling of its trunk, generally about 

 two-thirds from the ground; of very slow growth (Baikie, l.c), 

 Seedhngs set out in inferior soils where coco-nuts are handicapped 



have reached 7 ft. 



Ann 



Rep. Agric. Seychelles, 1915; Agric. News Barbados, 1917, 

 p. 1G3). In Malabar, where the annual rainfall is about 100 in , 

 the Palmyra Palm is raised from seed dibbled in the ground 

 in situ, a definite stem is formed above ground in about 6 years 

 and commences to yield fruit in about 19 years, lasting from 

 50-60 years. In Coimbatore — rainfall about 20 in. — seeds are 

 planted during the south-west or north-east monsoons in well- 

 ploughed land; they germinate in about a month, the first 

 leaf appears above ground after about 3 months, a fresh leaf 

 being formed about every month thereafter; the stem rises 

 above ground in from 2-3 years under good cultivation and after 

 about 5 years leaf-sheaths may be obtained which yield a fibre 

 [^^ Palmyra fibre "] for brush-making and the rate of growth 

 while the stem is young is from 12-18 in. a year (Fischer, Indian 

 Forester, 1912, p. 51). 



The palm is found on the plains of Yola (Dalziel, Kew Bull. 

 1910, p. 141) and in situations much drier and higher than, as 

 a rulcj those of the Coco-nut {Cocas nucifera) and approximately 

 where the one begins the other ends from the sea in many parts of 

 Nigeria, Baikie (l.c.) records the nearest approach to the sea 

 along the river Niger in Ibo nearly 150 miles up; in Yorul>a 

 very near the sea, abundantly scattered throughout Nupe, 

 Borgu, along the banks of the river Binuwe, [Benue], Bornu, &c. 

 —elephants abound wherever it is plentiful as they are very 

 fond of its fruit. In the Ibadan territory, the Bale and Council 

 of Ibadan at a meeting held on the 8th November 1912 passed a 

 resolution imposing a fee of one shilHng for each Fan Palm felled, 

 a resolution which received the approval of the Governor (S. 

 Nig. Govt. Gaz. Jan, 29th, 1913, p. 99). It is very abundant on 

 the Gambia, in Combo, where in many places it forms forests of 

 considerable extent often very dense (Kew Bull, 1892, p. 46). 

 On the Gold Coast near Sekondi it is common in the grasslands 

 close to the sea, the rainfall here being much below 50 in. a 

 year (Thompson, Col. Rep. Misc. No. 66, 1910, pp. 16, 62); 

 it is also to be met with in the Savannah forests (I.e. p. 9), vevy 

 characteristic of the open country in the valley of the Sumin 

 River (l.c. p. 90), and abundant on the Afram plains in the 

 extreme North Eastern portion of the Colony (I.e. p. 74). Both 

 this palm and Hyphaene (q-V,) are plentiful on the banks of the 

 Lowt?r Shire River near Chiromo, in the vicinitv of Lake Nvasa 



