THE PALM FAMILY. 



265 



THE PALM FAMILY. 



By William Hugh Gower. 



THE noble order Palmacece is at once the most 

 majestic, interesting, and useful of all plants in 

 the latitudes where they prevail. In more temperate 

 climes the family of the Grasses are more useful, and 

 support greater numbers. But in the region of 

 Palms, extending from 40° north to 35° south lati- 

 tude, no plants can rival them in beauty and useful- 

 ness ; indeed, to describe all their products and uses 

 would fill many volumes. These so-called princes of 

 the vegetable kingdom have long been extensively 

 cultivated on the Continent of Europe, though but 

 little cultivated in British gardens till quite a recent 

 period. Even now there are far fewer Palms in our 

 public and private gardens than in those of France, 

 Belgium, Germany, and Holland. The finest col- 

 lection in Europe is to be found in the Royal Gardens 

 at Herrenhausen in Hanover, under the directorship 

 of Herr Wendland, who has made these plants the 

 study of his life. These are accommodated in a 

 noble house upwards of a hundred feet in height. 



Palms produce two distinct kinds of growth, one 

 kind having fan-shaped leaves, more or less divided 

 at the edges, and the others long, pinnate leaves, 

 with the appearance of beautiful feathery plumes. 

 Most of them are easily cultivated, though some are 

 of such slow growth, that any one planting seeds 

 when young of such kinds as the great fan-leaved 

 Talipat Palm (Corypha umbraculifera), or the Pal- 

 myra Palm {Borassus jtabelliformis), would have but 

 little prospect of seeing them become trees wuth six- 

 feet stems, though they lived to be eighty years old. 

 These slow-growing species are not suitable for the 

 purposes of every-day decoration, but we have 

 plenty of elegant rapid- growing Palms which assume 

 their proper character, and become ornamental, in 

 two or three years. 



Palm-stems are all simple (with the exception of 

 the Doom or Ginger-bread Palm of Egypt, Hyphccne, 

 and this is remarkable for its dichotomously branched 

 character) ; these stems vary considerably in stature 

 and appearance ; some Palms have stems from fifty 

 to a hundred and fifty feet high, and several feet 

 in thickness ; whilst others have slender reed-like 

 stems, which climb up and through the forest-trees, 

 festooning them with a living garland, and fre- 

 quently reaching a length of two, three, and four 

 hundred feet ; others, again, have slender stems 

 seldom exceeding the height of a few feet. 



Palms enjoy heat and moisture ; in fact the Arabs 

 say, "The Palm-tree has its roots in the water, and 

 its head in the oven." For soil use peat and loam 

 in equal parts, while the plants are young, because 



they grow more quickly ; but as they get older, and 

 the idea is to prevent overgrowing the accommo- 

 dation, use nearly all loam. The pots must be 

 drained well, as all the species enjoy copious supplies 

 of water, both to the roots and overhead; these 

 plants should never be allowed to suffer from 

 drought, and it may be taken as a safe guide by the 

 amateur, that the more spiny a Palm, the more 

 water it requires ; indeed, some require to be grown 

 in water. 



Palms, like other plants, from a variety of causes 

 may get into a sickly state; whenever this occurs 

 shake the old soil from the roots, carefullj'- wash 

 the latter, re-pot the plant into a clean pot with 

 fresh soil ; the pot should then be placed in a pan of 

 water, and kept standing in it, in the warmest 

 position in the house. Avoid over-potting Palms, it 

 is an English mistake, and prevents these plants 

 being of so much use for decorative purposes as 

 when kept in smaller sizes. In Continental gardens, 

 tubs and pots of a comparatively small size accom- 

 modate very large specimens, which, instead of re- 

 potting, are top-dressed with cow-manure, and re- 

 ceive extra supplies of water, and thrive admirably 

 under this treatment. 



Acanthophoenix. — A few handsome plants 

 comprise this genus. The name is derived from 

 acanthos, "a spine" ; thus Spiny Phoenix, the latter 

 being the Greek name of the Date Palm. They 

 have at various times been placed with the Arecas 

 and Calamus, but they do not agree with either. 



These plants have stout stems, somewhat swollen 

 at the base, which, with the petioles, are armed with 

 long and sharp spines ; the leaves are pinnate, spadix 

 simple, the female flower having one male flower on 

 each side ; fruits small, one-seeded. They possess no 

 economic properties. 



A. crinita — highly orna- 

 mental, but too tender 

 for general decorative 

 purposes. Leaves long 

 and beautifully arched, 

 pinnate ; petioles broad 

 and sheathing at the base, 

 where they are densely 

 armed with long and 

 slender black spines ; 

 pinnae long and narrow, 



tapering to a point. Mas- 

 carene Islands. 

 A. ruber — large, and a some- 

 what lax grower compared 

 with the preceding. The 

 young leaves are deep red, 

 but change with age to a 

 deep green ; petioles fur- 

 nished with long black 

 spines. Mascarene Islands. 



Acrocomia. — A small family of tall-growing 

 plants, deriving their name from the elegant head of 

 feathery leaves on the summit of the stems — thus 

 ahros, "top"; and Jerome, "a tuft." Theybelongtothe 

 Cocoinece, or Cocoa-nut section of the Palm family ; 

 nuts small, and not edible, very hard, take a fine 

 polish, and are used in the manufacture of toys, &c. ; 

 they also yield a delicately-scented oil, which is used 

 in the preparation of choice toilet-soaps. 



