FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
1S5 
of spines that we have to handle them 
with care in order to avoid the serious 
injury that may be inflicted by them. 
Often they grow in tufts or big clumps, 
making it impossible to penetrate the 
forest. The genus consists of about a 
hundred species. Though many of them 
are ornamental and would form inter¬ 
esting objects in our sub-tropical gar¬ 
dens, they are little grown on account of 
their spines. They all have plume-like 
leaves. Many of the species are coarse 
in appearance and not worth growing, 
■others are extremely beautiful. They are 
found in all kinds of situations, wet and 
dry. Most of the species have their 
whip-like stems, as well as the leaves 
and flower-spathes, covered with spines. 
They are the terror of the naturalist 
who has to enter the undergrowth of 
the forest. I have only grown Badris 
Binoti, from South Brazil, and B. bacu- 
lifera, both seemingly horticultural names 
without botanical foundation. The most 
common species is B. horrida, Ocrst, 
from Nicaragua, a rather beautiful, 
small palm, growing in tufts about 6 to 8 
feet high. They have extremely spiny 
leaves, leaf-stalks, trunks and flower- 
spathes, and would make impenetrable 
live fences if it would prove hardy. 
I will close this chapter with one of 
the most beautiful and noble of palms, 
Areca Catechu Linn., the Areca or Betel- 
nut Palm, which has a lofty, straight and 
very slender stem. For this reason the 
Hindoo poets speak of it as “an arrow 
shot from Heaven.” 
“The flowers are deliciously fragrant; 
they are in request for all festive occa¬ 
sions and are also considered a necessary 
ingredient in the medicines and charms 
employed in the healing of the sick; their 
delightful perfume, together with a 
graceful, feathery foliage, borne on a 
slender and elegantly tapered stem, ren¬ 
ders this tree the universal favorite among 
the palm tribe.” (Hugh Low, “Sar¬ 
awak”). 
The fruit is about the size of a small 
hen’s egg, of an orange color, and hangs 
in large bunches below the dark green 
leaves. The outer part of the fruit is 
hard and fibrous, then comes the shell, 
enclosing the kernel of the betel-nut. It 
is for this that the palm is so extensively 
cultivated in the Malay Archipelago, and 
the practice of chewing it is universal 
amongst the natives. The nut is cut in¬ 
to narrow strips and rolled up with a lit¬ 
tle lime in the leaves of the betel pepper. 
The pellet, though acid to the taste, is 
aromatic and astringent and the mastica¬ 
tion is considered wholesome. The na¬ 
tives would rather forego meat and drink 
than their favorite Areca-nut. The 
commerce in the nut is enormous. 
I can only say that this glorious and 
celebrated palm may do well in extreme 
South Florida where the Royal Palm 
flourishes. I do not know whether or 
not an attempt has ever been made to 
introduce it to Florida, but is should be 
done. If it will succeed, it is an acquisi¬ 
tion of the greatest value, on account of 
its nobility and its extremely fragrant 
powers. 
