THE PALM FAMILY. 



141 



of rank. They are also made into fans, Hindoo books, and 

 other useful articles. 



Corypha Taliera is similar to the last, and is used for the 

 same purposes, but it does not grow so tall. It is common 

 throughout India. 



Licuala acutifida^ and L. peltata. Small fan palms not 

 exceeding 6 — 8 feet in height. They are natives of Pulo- 

 Penang. Their stems are imported to this country in a 

 rough state under the name of " Penang Lawyers," and after 

 they are made smooth and polished, are used for walking- 

 sticks. 



Double Cocoa-nut {Jjodoicea sechellarura). This may bo 

 considered the largest and most remarkable of palms. It is 

 a native of a small group of islands in the Indian Ocean called 

 the Seychelles. It is said to attain the height of 100 feet, its 

 stem being 1^ to 2 feet in diameter, bearing at its summit a 

 crown of lan-shaped leaves. It is remarkable for growing in 

 a socket of a hard, woody texture, perforated with holes made 

 by the roots. This curious appendage derives its origin from 

 the cotyledon, which in this palm attains the extraordinary 

 length of 2 feet, growing downwards like a root, having the 

 germ (plumule) seated in its thickened end. When perfect 

 the thick end opens on one side like a sheath, out of which 

 rise the first and succeeding leaves of the plant, roots also 

 being produced, which make their exit by piercing the end 

 of the sheath. In time the nutriment of the nut becomes 

 exhausted ; and the part of the cotyledon between it and the 

 young plant withers. The latter, however, retains its placen- 

 tide vital connexion with the sheath end of the cotyledon, 

 which is henceforth nourished by the plant, and increasing 

 in size with the growth of the plant, which thus continues 

 seated in the cradle of its birth through life. 



The fruit is a large, 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 united together, 

 and often weighs 30 to 40 lbs. They are borne in bunches 

 9 or 10 in number, so that a whole bunch will often weigh 



