THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 51 



All, or nearly all, of the large Palms bear fruit, 

 which varies more in its character than does the tree 

 in appearance. It is usually clustered, and. hangs 

 around the body of the tree beneath the roots of the 

 leaves. The Palma Real, Date Palm, and many 

 others, are very beautiful in this respect, the fruit 

 varying from the size of a blackberry to a lime, 

 usually — the Cocoanut being an exception. I ob- 

 served some through all their stages of growth, 

 from the blossom to the ripe fruit. An enormous 

 spatha shoots out, and opening, develops an im- 

 mense number of little white blossoms ; these soon 

 fall to the ground, covering it for some yards per- 

 fectly white. The fruit of some would be first green, 

 and then yellow ; afterwards, when ripe, it would be 

 red, and hang in clusters of several hundred, in the 

 form of an inverted cone, suspended by a single 

 stem. This fruit is a miniature cocoanut, about the 

 size of a medium lime, with its outside shuck, hard 

 shell, and meat. It is eaten eagerly by wild and 

 domestic hogs. 



The Date Palm and some others are supposed to 

 contain in one cluster from 12,000 to 600,000 flowers. 

 The trunk of the variety above described is not usu- 

 ally over eight or ten inches thick, but often fifty or 

 sixty feet high, and covered with sharp prickles. 



A variety presenting a very peculiar appearance, 

 supported upon aerial roots, is common upon the 

 Isthmus. The trunk is straight and slim, and sup- 

 ported six or eight feet from the ground, by roots 

 that stand out in every direction, and from two to 



