472 



BOTANY 



where they are terminal the tree dies after the seeds ripen. In their 

 early stages the inflorescences are entirely enveloped by the spathes, 



but the flowering 

 spikes eventually 

 protrude and bear 

 numerous small flowers 

 of an inconspicuous, 

 usually yellowish, col- 

 our. Pollination is 

 effected by the wind 

 or by insects. The 

 fruit is apocarpous or 

 syncarpous ; sometimes 

 a berry, as in the case 

 of the date ; some- 

 times an indehiscent 

 fruit or, like the cocoa- 

 nut, a drupe. From 

 one to three seeds are 

 produced in an ovary. 

 The endosperm is often 

 hard and bony in 

 consequence of its 

 strongly- thickened cell- 

 walls. 



Geographical Distri- 

 bution. — The Palms grow 

 chiefly in the Tropics. 



Fig. 410. — Group of Date Palms, Phoenix dactylifera, in Algiers. 

 (From a photograph.) 



Fig. 411. — Cocoa-nut with part 

 of the fibrous exocarp re- 

 moved.— Officinal. (After 

 Warming, reduced.) 



Only a few species thrive in the warmer countries of the temperate zones, e.g. the 

 Dwarf Palm, Chamaerops humilis, of South Europe, and the Date Palm, Phoenix 

 dactylifera (Fig. 410), cultivated to a large extent in the oases of the Sahara. On 



