326 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENTNa. 



thirty to fifty feet lon^. 

 In a young state it is very 

 handsome ; the pendent 

 leaflets give the leaves 

 the appearance of a beau- 

 tiful plume. The largest 

 example of this species 

 existing in Europe is in 

 the Botanic Gardens of 



St. Petersburg, and it 

 is over sixty feet high. 

 Spruce says *' the native 

 name is * CocuritoPalm,' " 

 and that it is " common 

 m the primitive forests of 

 the Amazon, on the 

 granite peaks wherever it 

 can gain.a hold." 



plant is turned to use by the Alrabs. In our hot- 

 houses, they form splendid ornaments, and they can 

 also be used -with great effect for general decorative 

 purposes in a young state, though reaching to a 

 great height with age. 



CEnocarpus. — This genus is nearly allied to 

 Euterpe. The name comes from oinos, "wine," and 

 karpoSj '* a fruit," the plants yielding oil and wine, but 

 the same name might apply to many other Palms. 

 The flower-spikes are stiff and branched, the separate 

 sexes being on the same branch ; fruits one-seeded, 

 enclosed in a black, fibrous, oily flesh. Some of the 

 species yield an excellent colourless oil, either for 

 burning or culinary purposes, and mixing with 

 olive oil. 



<E. Bacaba — stem stout, 

 smooth, fifty to sixty feet 

 high, with long' pinnate 

 feathery leaves ; leaflets 

 (in the old plants) clus- 

 tered, pendulous, and 

 dark green. In a young 

 state they are also very 

 handsome. JForests of the 

 Amazon. 



CE. Batana — this species is 

 dwarfer ; leaves about 

 fifteen feet long ; the pen- 

 dulous leaflets are not 

 clustered, as io the " Ba- 

 caba Palm," neither does 

 it carry so large a crown 

 of leaves. Forests of the 

 Amazon. 



CE. minor — a handsome 

 stove Palm ; stem slender 

 andnaked, fifteen to thirty 

 feet high ; leaves pinnate, 

 with a very feathery ap- 

 pearance, some six feet or 



more in length. In woods 

 on the Rio Negro. 

 <E. Patana — this species is 

 one of the giants amongst 

 Palms in South America. 

 The stem attains a height 

 of from eighty to a hun- 

 dred feet or more, bearing 

 a splendid head or crown 

 of beautiful pinnate, fea- 

 thery leaves, from forty 

 to fifty feet long, the leaf- 

 lets being pendent, and 

 upwards of five feet long 

 and four inches wide, rich 

 deei> green. Its stout, 

 straight spines, varying 

 from one to three feet in 

 length, furnish the In- 

 dians with the darts which 

 they blow from the " gra- 

 vatana. " In Venezuela 

 it is called *'Seje;" in 

 Brazil, " Patana." Brazil 

 and Venezuela. 



Oncosperma. — The name is derived from offhos, 

 "a hook"; and sperma, '*a seed"; but the seeds are not 

 hooked. The family is allied to Areca through the 

 spiny Acanthopho&nix. The species are beautiful stove 

 ornaments, but not sufficiently robust to be used for 

 general decorative purposes. The natives use the 

 young heart-leaves as Cabbage,, and the trunks for 

 building their houses. 



O. fasciculata— an elegant 

 species, with a slender 

 stem, furnished with 

 beautiful pinnate leaves ; 

 the leaflets are long, pen- 

 dent, and dark green; 

 petioles densely clothed 



with long, black, hair-flke 

 spines. Java. 

 0. Van Houtteanum — stem 

 slender, sheathing petioles 

 and midrib of leaf a dull 

 red, with long, dull red, 

 needle-like spines, Java. 



P. acauhs — this species 

 forms little or no stem ; 

 leaves,when mature, three 

 feet or more long, pinnate, 

 spreading ; leaflets nar- 

 row, the basal ones re- 

 duced to mere spines ; 

 deep green. Sikkim, where 

 it is called " Schap." 



P. dactylifera (the Date 

 Palm)— it attains a height 

 of fifty to eighty feet; 

 when young the leaves are 

 somewhat erect, pinnate, 

 with long Hnear-lanceo- 

 late, slightly glaucous 

 green leaflets. '^ . Africa, 



Phoenix. — This family of Palms supply us with 

 the well-known Dates ; the species which produces 

 this fruit is largely cultivated over the northern part 

 of Africa, and, like all cultivated fruit-trees, breaks 

 into numerous varieties. In these countries Dates 

 form the principal food of a great portion of the 

 population, and, indeed, nearly every part of the 



P. rupicola— of this beau- 

 tiful plant Dr. Anderson 

 says, "It is easily distin- 

 guished from all others of 

 the genus by its long slen- 

 der stems; by its soft 

 delicate foliage, like the 

 leaves of the Cocoa-nut." 

 Sikkim. 



P. tenuis— this is a very 

 graceful species ; its loDg 

 leaflets are pendent, nar- 

 row, and bright deep 

 green ; its slender leaves 

 render it a valuable plant 

 for table decoration. 

 East Indies. 



Phytelephas.— The name of this genus comes 

 from its fruits : thna, ph^ton^ "a plant"; elephas, "an 

 elephant " ; the nuts yielding vegetable ivory, from 

 which so many of our toys, knobs for umbrellas, 

 doord, &c., are made, and said by the turners to 

 come out from the lathe whiter than animal ivory. 

 These plants form dense woods, to the exclusion 

 of almost any other plants ; their flowers are imi- 

 sexual, and borne on separate plants ; the female 

 makes a stout decumbent stem, rooting from its 

 under side, and producing its large nuts upon a 

 short spadix from between the leaves ; the male plant 

 is more erect, although it never makes a tall stem. 



P. asquatorialis "diffei^ 

 chiefly from the other 

 species in the stout aitd 

 often quite erect trunk, 

 reaching fifteen, or even 

 twenty feet in height; in 

 the unequally pinnate 

 leaves ; the leaflets being 

 not equidistant, but ag- 

 gregate by threes and 

 fours along the rachis. 

 Native names, * Cadi ' and 

 * Corozo * ; it abounds on 

 the plains of Guayaquil." 



P. macrocarpa — the Vege- 

 table Ivory Nut. Leaves 



pinnate, ten to twenty 

 leet long ; leaflete narrow 

 and flat, carried down 

 nearly to the base of the 

 petiole, thus forming a 

 large, somewhat ovate, 

 feathery, dark green 

 plume. Of this plant 

 Spruce says, "The cha- 

 racters of P. macrocarjia 

 are either to have no 

 trunk at all, or a very 

 shortand stoutone, which 

 is nearly always inclined 

 or crooked," Peruvian 

 Andes. 



Pritchardia. — A small family oi handsome fan- 

 leaved Palms, first discovered and introduced by the 

 late Dr. Berthold Seemann; they form splendid 

 ornaments in the stove, but are not sufficiently hardy 

 for general purposes. Although quite destitute of 

 spines, they enjoy an abundant supply of heat and 

 moisture. 



P. Martii — stem slender; 

 whole plant smooth ; base 

 of petioles enclosed in a 

 tissue ot rough fibres ; 

 leaves large, flabellate, 



Elaited like a fan. Fiji 

 nlands. 

 P. paciflcar— agrandspecies; 



stem slender, smooth, 

 saving the few rough 

 fibres which surround 

 the base of the petioles; 

 these are covered with 

 a scaly, grey tomeu; 

 turn ; leaves large. . Fiji 

 Islands. 



