BOEASSUS. 12& 



while those of the opposite sex are produced on simple, 

 or more rarely slightly branched spikes. The fruits are 

 very large, three seeded. The leaves are fan-shaped or 

 nearly. circalar, and the stems stout, straight, and massive, 

 some sixty to eighty feet in height (some say much more), 

 and from one to two feet in diameter. These plants should 

 be grown in loam and sand, with a small portion of vege- 

 table mould added. They are increased by seeds only, and 

 are exceedingly rare in cultivation. 



B. JEtMopum. — This, the African Fan Palm, grows to' 

 eighty feet in height, but trees of such dimensions must 

 be exceedingly aged, for they are very slow to form a 

 stem. This plant is easily distinguished from its Asiatic 

 relative, by the remarkable bulging out or swelling in its 

 stem near the middle, or about two-thirds of its height 

 from the ground. The leaves are nearly circular and 

 plaited, supported upon stout petioles from six to seven 

 feet in length ; in a young state this is an exceedingly 

 handsome plant, and is at present extremely rare. The 

 fruits, which are as large or larger than a cocoa-nut, con- 

 tain three seeds, which are gathered as vegetables soon 

 after germination, and are said to be very agreeable 

 eating. Travellers tell us that elephants are always to 

 be found near these trees, as they are exceedingly fond 

 of its seeds. Toddy is extracted from its stem, and mats, 

 baskets, and hats are made from its leaves. It is abun- 

 dantly distributed in various parts of Western Tropical 

 Africa, mostly by river banks, although in some places 

 it approaches the sea coast. 



B. flaHbeliformis. — Of this noble Palm a native poem, 

 in describing its beneficial properties, records nearly one 

 thousand uses to which its products may be applied. It 

 is a gigantic tree, reaching eighty feet or more in height. 



