1088 
NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. 
Order CLXXIII. PALMJE. 
These were well named by Linnaeus, the princes of the vegetable world ; for they far surpass all other plants 
in the grandeur and majesty of their port. Their lofty stem, supported by a mass of fibrous roots, which fre- 
quently creep along the surface of the ground, consists of wood with longitudinal fibres, soft in the centre, but 
hard as horn itself at the circumference; it is almost always unbranched, bearing a tuft of leaves at the 
summit; in a very few cases it is dichotomous, always round, and it terminates by a single bud ; by the fall of 
the petioles of the leaves, which sheath it in a greater or less degree at the base, it is covered with large scars. 
The leaves, technically called fronds, are pinnate or flabelliform, never simple; and, in a young state, before 
they expand, they are folded up in plaits from the base to the apex. The flowers are small, with bractese at 
their base, either sessile or seated in some cavity, of a pallid color, and contained in a large bag called a spatha ; 
when they open, the mass of inflorescence, called a spadix, bursts .suddenly through the under side of the 
spatha, generally evolving the most fragrant odors. Impregnation takes place rapidly, through the injection 
of the pollen upon the humid surface of the stigmas, which gape open to receive it. The fruit is perfected in a 
period varying from six months to a year ; when ripe it is a drupe or berry, with either a fibrous or fleshy coat ; 
the mass of its kernel consists of oily albumen, which, in the case of the cocoa nut, is soft enough to be eaten, 
but wliich in most species is as hard as horn. Dr. von Martins, the celebrated traveller in Brazil, to whom the 
world is indebted for nearly all that is known of these plants, concludes his remarks upon the characters of the 
order in the following words : — " Palms, the noble offspring of Terra and Phoebus, are natives of those happy 
countries within the tropics, where the rays of the latter are ever beaming. In all such climates they are to 
be found, with this limitation, however, that in the southern hemisphere they do not overstep the 35th degree 
of latitude, nor in the northern the 40th. Most species are confined within fixed and narrow bounds, for it 
comes to pass that wherever a district is characterized by striking peculiarities of soil or climate, those species 
exist which are not found elsewhere ; but few, on the contrary, extend over a large extent of surface, as the 
Cocos nucifera, Acrocomia sclerocarpa, Borassus flabelliformis, &c. It is probable that the number of 
palms existing on the face of the earth, will be found by future travellers to amount to as many as a thousand 
species. Most of them love the margins of springs and streams, but few establish themselves on the shores of 
the ocean, and yet a smaller number ascend into the alpine regions of their country ; some collect in large 
forests ; some are scattered singly or in clusters, among woods and plains. In the most ancient periods of the 
world, when the genera of plants were beginning to be formed, palms scarcely existed ; they were preceded in 
the creation by the more ancient Ferns, Cycadeae, Grasses, and Equisetaceae. Some of their remains have, 
however, been found in variegated sandstone, and in limestone of the third order (fletzkalk), part of which 
belong to unknown species, and part to species still in existence. But in the times succeeding the deluge, they 
appear, from the written evidence of historians and poets, to have followed the footsteps of man, to whom 
their fruit yielded food, drink, and oil; their stems houses, arms, utensils, flour, and wine; and their leaves 
cordage and roofs for habitations. In cultivation their soil should be slightly saline ; they are propagated by 
seeds more readily than by truncheons of the stem ; when cultivated they undergo no alteration, except in pro- 
ducing more fleshy or stemless fruit : it is extremely difficult to transplant Ihem beyond their own country; 
naturally their migration is absolutely opposed by the barriers of the ocean." 
762 Corypha W. 1982 Sagus IV. 2008 Nipa Th. 2079 Borassus PV. 
763 Licuala W. 1983 Cocos fV. 2009 Ardca fV. 2080 MaurUia W. 
764 Thrinax IF, 1984 E'late J^F. 2049 Phoe'nix fF. 2109 Latania J. 
8.55 Sabal P. S. 1985 Bactris W. 2077 Elais W. 2153 Rhipis W. 
153 Calamus W. 2007 Cary6ta W. 2078 ChamaBd6rea W. 2154 Cham^'rops fV. 
Section III. STAMENS HYPOGYNOUS. 
Order CLXXIV. GRAMINE^. 
The order of grasses is beyond doubt the most natural of all that the ingenuity of systematic botanists 
has contrived; it is also the most numerous in species. The inflorescence is very much alike throughout the 
order, and the floral envelopes, which are bractes in a progressive state to the form of calyx and petals, offer 
few striking characters by which the genera can be characterized. Hence it is that the classification of the 
order, and its division into genera, has not only been found extremely difficult, but has given rise to much 
difference of opinion among botanists ; some of whom, adhering to the synthetical arrangement of Linnseus, 
admit but a small number of genera, while others, admitting the analytical principles of modern science, 
divide it into a vast number. The middle course in this, as in most other cases, is probably the just one. A 
subdivision of the order into tribes, has been attempted by Palisot, Trinius, Dumortier, Raspail, Kunth, Link, 
and others ; that of M. Kunth is here adopted. The general habit of grasses is so familiar to every one, that 
it may be passed over in silence. They are remarkable for exhibiting, in no case, properties that are actually 
poisonous ; possessing on the contrary,' in almost all cases, wholesome and nutritive qualities. These latter are 
especially obvious in their seeds, which always contain a farinaceous substance, mixed with a certain propor- 
tion of glutinous matter. No one is ignorant of the various and important uses of the seeds of wheat, rye, 
barley, oats, maize, rice, and others, and in general of all the larger kinds of grass. It must however be re- 
marked, that if the smaller sorts are not employed in like manner, it is merely on account of their minuteness, 
and not on account of any difference in their nature ; in fact, in times of scarcity, and in half cultivated coun- 
tries, use has advantageously been made of Festuca flmtans, Zizania aquatica, Av^na fatua, Pdnicum sangui- 
nale, Av^na elatior, Bromus secalinus, and E'lymus arenarius. It is also to be noted, that the particular uses 
for which the seeds of certain grasses are employed, are not peculiar to them, but may be obtained from all 
the others, with slight modifications. Thus beer is made, not only from barley but also from wheat ; spiri- 
tuous liquors not only from our European cerealia, but also from rice. But it must he remarked, that a sin- 
gular exception to the generally wholesome properties of grasses, appears to exist in L61ium temuKntum, 
the seed of which is reported to be narcotic and inebriating, aryi even poisonous ; there is no doubt, however, 
that these qualities have been greatly exaggerated ; for in the first place they disappear in bread or beer 
manufactured from Lolium temul^ntum ; and secondly, in times of scarcity, people have frequently lived upon 
it. But even supposing all that has been stated upon the subject to be true, this plant will still be found to be 
little different from wheat, when long exposed to wet ; so well, indeed, is this known by country people, that A 
belief exists, that in wet summers wheat is actually transmuted into rye grass. The exciting properties of the 
oat, which are very unusual in this order, have been found to reside in the husk and not in the seed, and to 
depend upon the presence of a minute quantity of an aromatic principle, analogous to Vanilla, lying im- 
bedded in the envelope of the seed, and capable of being extracted by aid of alcohol. As to the deleterious 
effects of the ergot of rye, these do not depend certainly upon any such property in the rye itself, but is caused 
either by the ergot disease, or, as is believed, by the parasitic fungus, from the attack of which it arises. Now 
let us pass from the seeds of Gramineze to their stems, and we shall find a no less remarkable uniformity of 
nature in them. They all contain, especially before flowering, a sweet sugary mucilage, which varies in quan- 
tity in different species. The sugar cane, in which this is found in greatest abundance, not only constantly exists 
in the most favorable condition for producing it, as it rarely flowers, but is also one of the largest grasses 
known. The maize also abounds in sugar ; and the same substance is secreted in such abundance by the 
S6rghura saccharatum, that attempts have actually been made in Italy to cultivate it as the sugar cane. The 
creeping roots of grasses, which are generally mucilaginous and demulcent, are sometimes used in medicine ; 
but they are of more importance for retaining in banks the sand of the sea shore, so as to form artificial cliffs 
on flat coasts, to restrain the inroads of the sea. The stems of Androp6gon schasninthus, the leaves of 
Androp6gon citratum, the roots of Andropogon nardus, and the whole plant of all the species of Anthox- 
&nthum, exhale an aromatic odor, and possess slightly tonic properties. To conclude, the epidermis of grasses 
has been found to contain a considerable quantity of silex. 
