Seeds also should be brought back alive, and probably are 
quite perishable, in the sense of being killed if allowed to dry out, 
anti hence should be packed in slightly dampened moss or weathered 
charcoal. Several hundred seeds should be obtained if practicable, 
since it is not impossible that the palm may thrive in Florida or in 
California. At least it should grow in conservatories and might make 
a fine display in the large high-roofed conservatory of the United 
States Botanic Garden, by growing above the other palms. 
Most of the related palms from Central and South America 
glow in mountain iorests and have not been introduced in cultivation, 
either in Florida or in conservatories, but this island palm might 
prove more hardy and better suited to moderate conditions. The most 
important economic member of the group is the assai palm of Brazil, 
with purple oily fruits used extensively in the district of Para for 
making a popular food beverage, reported very favorably by Alfred 
Russel Wallace. 
It is remarkable that in the palm group several of the most 
interesting and. important species have been found on small islands, 
and in nature are confined to these single locations* 
The palm of Guadeloupe Island, off the west coast of Mexico, 
Althea edul is , is one ot the most beautiful, and is ■planted ex-* 
tensively along the coast of California, but not adapted to other 
parts of the United States* 
The hardy date palm, Phoenix canar i ensi s , the most imposing 
member of the date-palm family, now planted extensively in California 
and through the Gulf States, comes from the single island of Palma 
in the Canary group* 
The so-called n Kentia H palm, the most important commercial 
species lor decorative uses, familiar in hotel lobbies, comes from 
Lord Howe Island, between Australia and New Zealand* 
Hawaii , Tahiti, Samoa and other island groups have their 
local endemic palms, and new species are still being discovered* A 
ver> remarkable new genus, Pelagodoxa, was found a few years ago 
on one of the Marquesas islands* 
More than one palm may be endemic on Cocos Island* If any 
of the hills have rocky out-crops that can be seen with a telescope, 
palms should oe looked for in such places* Some of these have broad, 
overlapping, fan-shaped leaves, and are very compact in their habits 
oi growth, with only short trunks, thus giving the impression of a 
