THE 
NORTH AMERICAN 
S Y L Y A. 
CABBAGE TREE. 
Hexandria trigynia. Linn. Palmæ. Jusg. 
Chamærofs palmeto. C. caule arboreo; frondibus palmatis,plicatis,stipitibus 
non aculeatis. 
From its lofty height, this vegetable is considered in the United States 
as a tree ; and upon the shores of the Ocean, where it grows, it is called 
Cabbage Tree. It belongs to the genus of the Palms, and is found further 
north than any other species in America, being first seen about Cape Hat- 
teras, in the 34th degree of latitude, which, in the temperature of the 
winter, corresponds with the 44th in Europe. From Cape Hatteras it 
spreads to the extremity of East Florida, and probably encircles the Gulf 
of Mexico : I have no doubt that it exists also in Cuba and the Bahama 
Isles ; I have seen it in Bermuda, which is more than 600 miles from the 
coast of North America. 
Further south the Cabbage Tree is not confined, as in the United States, 
to the immediate vicinity of the sea ; on the river St. John, in Florida, à 
few miles above Lake George, I caused two stocks to be felled at the dis- 
tance of 40 or 50 miles from the shore. 
A trunk from 40 to 50 feet in height, of a uniform diameter, and 
crowned with a regular and tufted summit, gives to the Cabbage Tree a 
beautiful and majestic appearance. Its leaves are of a brilliant green, 
Vol. III.— 2 
