28 ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE PLANTS. 



Hie framework, and the leaves being used as thatch, 

 whilst their domestic utensils and basket-work are also 

 made of this wood. As the " Date Palm " is found 

 plentifully in Palestine, it is in all probability the plant 

 named in holy writ, and from which we have derived thfe 

 term of " Palm Sunday." 



Another most nutritious and important article of food 

 derived from this order is the well-known sago, which is 

 yielded more or less plentifully by various Palms, but the 

 best sago of the shops is mostly brought ii-om Singapore, 

 the produce of Sagus^ (or Metroxylon) Ewmphii and Sagus 

 {Mei/roxylon) Icevis, and is the natural pith of the stem. 

 These trees, it is said, do not yield much sago if cut down 

 before they are twenty years of age, at which time they 

 are mostly felled, their stems cut into lengths and split 

 in halves, when the pith is separated by washing in cold 

 water, after which it is allowed to settle anS the water 

 is drawn off, and the starchy granules properly dried for 

 consumption. Of this article about 150,000 cwts. are 

 annually imported into the United Kingdom. It is also 

 used extensively by the native population; indeed, when 

 made into thin cakes it is a staple article of food of the 

 inhabitants of the Eastern Moluccas. Oycads also yield 

 small quantities of an inferior kind of sago, which, how- 

 ever, seldom if ever comes to this country, and we only 

 allude to them here because they are often called " Sago 

 Palms " — which, however popular, is most erroneous, for 

 the Cycada have no affinity with the real producers of 

 this nutritious article of diet. 



The canes called rattans are the produce of various 

 species of Calamus, a genus of climbing Palms, which are 

 very abundant throughout India and the islands of the 

 Indian Archipelago, but chiefly of Galamus Eotang, G, 



