FAN PALMS IN THE PALM ^'^ALLEY. [Photo by J. F. Hook. 
The dome-topped tree against the sky is a Dipterocarp. 
attain 175 ft*j, and to rattans 500 ft. long. It is said that 
in eastern Malaysia there are coconut palms 200 ft. high ; 
but this is not proved. 
Except as an abnormality and in the unique genus 
Hyphaene, palms never branch above the level of the 
ground ; but many branch at or under the ground. Such 
branched palms are the Nibong, Oncosperma tigillariat and 
the Red-stemmed Palm^ Cyrtostachys lakka. The Sago 
Palms, Metroxylon Sagus and M. Rumphii, branch at the 
ground likewise. The Date Palm, Phmnix dactylifera, 
branches at the ground late in life, producing the suckers 
whereby all the superior races are propagated. The Coco- 
nut is typically unbranched. Some of the Rattans branch 
at the ground, and others not at all. 
Fan and feather leaves are distributed through the 
family ; more rare is a leaf thrice divided as in the 
Caryota. The leaves are always firm, and usually live over 
many years ; their durability makes them good for thatch- 
ing and is one reason why, in the East, they are written 
on ; however, students still debate how long palm-leaf 
manuscripts last. The leaf-blade in Corypha gebanga 
attains an area of at least 90 square feet, and of a vigorous 
Lodoicea seychellarum 80 square feet, while the compound 
leaf of a Caryota may cover more than 300 square feet. 
To cast off and to renew frequently organs of such great 
size would not be possible, and that is why their duration 
upon the plant is prolonged. If the stems are of rapid 
growth, as in rattans, the leaves become spaced out ; but it 
is far more usual in palms for the growth to be slow, and 
there are produced, in consequence, the crowns of leaves, 
which, at the top of stately trunks, are often so beautiful. 
Wallichia disticha has its leaves in two rows. 
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