PALMALES. 465 



Phmnix dactylifera, tlie Date Palm, is a native of Nortliern Africa 

 and Western Asia, now naturalized in tlie soutli of Europe. Tlie tree 

 is dioecious, and grows to tlie height of ten to twelve metres (40-50 

 feet), bearing a crown of leaves, each leaf being four to six metres (15- 

 30 feet) long. The fruit is produced in large bunches, containing from 

 twenty to thirty dates. Dates constitute a large portion of the food of 

 the Arabs of the African and Arabian deserts. They are largely im- 

 ported into the United States. They are prepared by gathering before 

 tliey are quite ripe, and tlien drying in the sun. 



The cultivation of the date palm has fur ages been an object of first 

 importance in Arabia and Nortliern Africa. The trees are hereditary, 

 and are sold as estates, constituting the chief wealth of the inhabi- 

 tants. 



Sabal Pcdmett <, the Cabbage Palmetto, S. serrulata, the Saw Palmetto, 

 S. Adansonii, the Dwarf Palmetto, and Ohammrops Hystrix, the Blue 

 Palmetto, all of the southeastern United States, and Washinijtonia Jil- 

 ifera, of California and Arizona, are our principal native palms. 



III. Tribe ISorassinece.— Borassus flabellifm-mis, the Peilmytsi 

 Palm, is a native of nearly all Southern Asia. It has large fan-sha; ed 

 leaves, anda cylindrical stem rising to the height of fifteen to thirty me- 

 tres (50 100 feet). Wine, or toddy, and sugar are made from the juice ; 

 the young sprouts of the fluwering branches are used for food iu tlie 

 same manner as asparagus. From the stem is obtained Palmyra wood. 



Hyphmne thebaiea, the Doum or Gingerbread Palm, is a braucliiiig 

 species of the upper Nile region. It produces fruits of the size of an 

 apple and with the flavor of gingerbread. A resin derived from this 

 tree is known as Egyptian Bdellium. 



Lodoicea sechdlarwm, the Double Cocoa-nut of the Seychelle Islands 

 in the Indian Ocean, is a giant among the palms. It attains the height 

 of thirty metres (100 feet), its stem being forty-five to sixty cm. (1^ to 3 

 feet) in diameter. It produces large oblong nuts, which have the ap- 

 pearance of being double, and which weigh from thirty to forty pounds. 

 They are borne in bunches of nine or ten in number, so that a whole 

 bunch will often weigh 400 pounds. It takes ten years to ripen the 

 fruit, the albumen of which is similar to that of the common cocoa-nut, 

 but it is too hard and horny to serve as food. The leaves are made into 

 hats, baskets, etc. The demand for the leaves for these uses has become 

 so great that the trees are cut down in order to obtain them, and as no 

 care is taken to form new plantations, it is feared that this palm will 

 eventually become extinct. 



IV. Tribe Calumece. — Calamus Botang &-ai several other spe- 

 cies include the Rattan or Cane Palms of India and the Malayan 

 Islands. They have slender reed-like stems which grow to a great 

 length, often from sixty to one hundred or more metres (300-300 feet), 

 and are imported into Europe and the Unitecj States for making chair- 

 bottom-', umbrella-ribs, etc. 



