324 



CASSELL'S POPTJLAK GAEDENING. 



segments, wMch are not 

 pendent ; inteuse deep 

 green. A magaiiiceni: 

 plant. Java. 

 X. Jenkinsiana — the native 

 name of this species in 

 Assam is "Toko Pat;" 

 its leaves are used for 

 making hats, haskets, 

 thatching, and various 

 other purposes. In Sik- 



kim, where it is rare, it 

 is callea " Julac-Myom." 

 Its fan-shaped leaves are 

 much plaited, some three 

 or four feet in diameter. 

 ^Northern India. 

 L. olivffiformis — a hand- 

 some plant, with less cir- 

 cular leaves than altis- 

 sima, which it otherwise 

 much resemhles. Java. 



oblong nut, covered with a thin rind. After the 

 removal of the outer envelope, or rind, the fruit has 

 the appearance of two. oblong nuts, firmly imited 

 together, and often weighs thirty to forty pounds. 

 They are borne in hunches nine or ten in number, 

 so that a whole bunch wiU often weigh four hun- 

 dred pounds. It takes ten years to ripen its fruit, 



LivisTONA (Latania) chinensis. 



Iiodoicea. — This is one of the most extraordi- 

 jary Palms in the world, or, at least, one of the 

 most wonderful yet discovered. It is a native of 

 some few small islands belonging to the Seychelles 

 group. Smith remarks of this plant, " It is said to 

 attain the height of a hundred feet, its stem being 

 two feet in diameter, bearing at its summit a crown 

 of fan-shaped leaves. It is remarkable for growing 

 in a socket of a hard, woody texture, perforated 

 Ivith lioles made by the roots. The fruit is a large, 



the albumen of which is similar to that of the com- 

 mon Cocoa-nut, but is too hard and horny to serve as 

 food." Before its habitat was discovered, the nuts 

 were found floating on the sea near the coast of the 

 Maldive Islands, which led to the supposition that 

 they grew in the sea, and they were called " Caco 

 de Mer," or " Sea Cocoa-nuts," and were considered 

 very valuable as presents, even to kings. The 

 flowers are unisexual, each sex produced on sepa- 

 rate plants. 



