226 ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE PLANTS. 



of twenty and thirty feet. The researches, however, of 

 Baikie, Livingstone, and Speke and Grant have not only 

 proved that the original species has a much wider distribu- 

 tion, but have added several more species to the genus. In 

 Upper Egypt the fibrous mealy covering of the fruit forms 

 a considerable portion of the fare of the lower classes, 

 and the peculiar flavour of which has given rise to its 

 popular name of Gingerbread Palm. The fruits of H. 

 iliebaica are large, and so also are those of a species sent 

 hoine by Dr. Livingstone, whilst those of a species dis- 

 covered by Speke and Grant are small (not larger than 

 a large marble), and perfectly round. The flowers are 

 produced upon long branching catkin-like spikes ; they are 

 unisexual, and the sexes are produced upon separate trees. 

 Fruits produced in clusters of from one to two hundred, 

 one-seeded. 



H. thebaica. — The Doum Palm, or Doom or Dum Palm, 

 but more popularly known as the Gingerbread Palm. 

 The stem is branched, and each branch terminates in a 

 tuft of large fan-shaped leaves, from amongst which the 

 branching catkins are produced. Native of Nubia, and 

 the adjacent countries. It is an extremely difBcult plant 

 to cultivate. 



Ielaetea. 



This genus of Palms has the peculiarity of supporting 

 its stems upon a cone of long prickly roots, so that the 

 ibase of the stem is often five or six feet from the ground, 

 and'some instances are recorded of large specimens having 

 a cone of roots ten or twelve feet high, with a stem up- 

 Twards of fifty feet in height. The leaves are pinnate, and 

 rthe pinnsB are somewhat trapezoid. The flower spikes 

 (produce unisexual flowers of both sexes upon one spike, 



