50 THE ISTHMUS OF TANAMA. 



circulation is carried on in the centre of the stem, 

 instead of near the surface, as sap, as in our northern 

 trees. The largest palms have no distinct bark that 

 can be separated, nor have they branches, but com- 

 mence their growth like a common plant. The root 

 of the leaf first encircles the stalk near the ground ; 

 within this shoots out another above the first, which 

 it crowds out, and dying, it drops off, and thus every 

 new leaf adds to the length of the trunk. Only a 

 few leaves remain, which are always at the top of the 

 tree ; and on some of the palms, these facets, or 

 scars, where the leaves separated, may be distinctly 

 seen after it has attained a great size. The Palma 

 Real is marked by rings, the root of the leaf encir- 

 cling the trunk for some feet up before it becomes 

 pinnated, and extends off; this part being of a bright 

 green, is one of the great beauties of the tree. The 

 leaves of the larger Palms are all pinnated, or fea- 

 ther-like — a central stem with two rows of narrow 

 leaves on each side. These leaves are often twenty 

 feet long, and the natives split them, leaving a row 

 of the leaflets on each half ; and these they bind on 

 the roofs of their houses, commencing at the lower 

 part, letting the leaflets overlap each other, and they 

 form a very perfect and durable covering. The 

 palm from which these thatches are obtained, never 

 grows to a great height, and the dead leaves adhere 

 to the trunk nearly to the ground, giving it a scrubby 

 appearance ; while the long leaves at the top shoot 

 out and curve over in a very graceful manner, like 

 the Palma Real and other varieties. 



