Palmae. 53 
Attalea Cohune Mart. 
Cohune Nut Palm. 
Plate XXIII. 
The Cohune Nut Palm belongs to the genus Attalea, which num- 
bers about twenty members, all natives of tropical America. The 
species in question is the northernmost of the genus. Its trunk is 
about forty feet high, rarely taller, its leaves are thirty feet long and 
the leaflets three feet in length. The flowering spathes appear be- 
tween the leaves, and bear yellowish flowers, and ovate fruits the size 
of a hen's egg, of a brownish color, containing from one to three 
seeds. The fruits grow in clusters each cluster resembling a huge 
bunch of grapes. 
The Cohune trees yield one crop of nuts each year. An oil is 
extracted from the nuts which is said to be superior to coconut oil : 
the odor is more pleasant. The strongest argument in favor of 
cohune nut oil is that one bottle of the oil extracted is said to burn as 
long as two bottles of oil from the coconut. The leaves are em- 
ployed as thatch, and from the trunk a palm wine is prepared. 
The Cohune is a native of the Isthmus of Panama and is culti- 
vated on account of its grandeur. It is well adapted for street 
planting and rows of this palm present the appearance of the nave 
and aisles of a Gothic Cathedral, the arched leaves meeting overhead 
and producing an imitation of vaulted roofs. 
Quite a number of specimens of this beautiful palm are in 
cultivation in Honolulu, mostly in private grounds. The tallest 
ones occur in Mrs. Foster's premises formerly belonging to the late 
Dr. Wm. Hillebrand, who introduced a great majority of our 
ornamental plants, and is probably responsible for the presence of 
this species in Honolulu. 
Cocos nucifera L. 
Cocoxut Palm. Niu. 
Though the Coconut is indigenous to Hawaii, it is such a land- 
mark in these Islands that it must be considered, even if not within 
the scope of this work. 
The centers of distribution and geographical range are the Islands 
and countries bordering the Indian and Pacific oceans. The Asiatics 
and Polynesians have discovered a number of uses to which it may 
be put which would indicate that they must have been familiar with 
it from time immemorial. The coconut tree attains a height of 
