Plants CXF. 



RARE TREES. 



Vol. FL No. 8 r. 



The Wax -Palm «Tre e of South- 

 America. 



(Cero xy lo n an d i c ola.) 



is remarkable kind of Palm - tree, which 

 arrives at the extraordinary height of 160 or 

 igo feet , has been discovered by Mr. 

 Alexander Humboldt , the celebrated natu- 

 ralist , during his travels through South- 

 America, on the mountain called Quindiu. 

 The trunk, that sticks to the earth with 

 many roots and filaments, rises uprightly; 

 betwixt the rings , formed by the fallen 

 leaves, there cleaves a yellow bark, three 



lines thick, as smooth as a reed, consisting 

 in a mixture of resin and wax. On the 

 left we behold a piece of the trùnk in its na- 

 tural greatness. The natives, who consider 

 this bark as pure wax, form thereof ta- 

 pers and candles , after having mixt 

 it with a third of tallow. The spheri- 

 cal fruits , of violet - colour have a 

 sweetish taste and are crowded together 

 like bunches of grapes; the interiour part 

 encloses a hard almond. This Palm tree 

 never bears more than ten feathered leaves, 

 rising to the height of ig = 2l feet, so 

 that the whole offers a surprizing and 

 sublime sight. 



