2SS P H CE 
they fir ft appear, and are wrapped round by brown fibres 
or threads, which fall oft' as the leaves advance, making 
way for them to expand ; thefe never open fiat, but are 
hollow like the keel of a boat, with a fiiarp ridge on their 
back ; they are very It iff, and, when young, of a bright 
green, ending with a fiiarp black fpine. 
Thefe trees have male flowers on different plants, from 
thofe which produce the fruit ; and there is a necefiity 
for fome of the male trees to grow near the female trees 
to render them fruitful; or, at leaft, to impregnate the 
germ, without which, the ftones, which are taken out of 
the fruit, will not grow. Molt of the old authors, who 
have mentioned thefe trees, affirm, that, unlefs the female 
or fruit-bearing palm-trees have the affiftance of the male, 
they are barren ; therefore in fuch places where there are 
no male trees near the female, the inhabitants cut off the 
hunches of male flowers, when they are juft opened, and 
carry them to the female trees, placing them on the 
branches near the female flowers to impregnate them; 
which, they all agree, has the defired effedf, rendering 
the trees fruitful which would otherwife’ have been 
barren. Pere Labat, in his account of America, mentions 
,a Angle tree of this kind, growing near a convent in the 
ifiand of Martinico, which produced a great quantity of 
fruit, which came to maturity enough for eating; but, as 
there was no other tree of this kind in the ifiand, they 
were delirous to propagate it, and accordingly planted 
great numbers of the ftones for feveral years, but not one 
of them grew ; therefore, after having made feveral trials 
without fuccefs, they were obliged to fend to Africa, 
where thefe plants grew in plenty, for fome of the fruit; 
the ftones of which they planted, and railed many of the 
plants. He then conjectures, that the fingle tree before- 
tnentioned might be probably fo far impregnated by fome 
neighbouring palm-trees of other fpecies as to render it 
capable of ripening the fruit, but not fuflicient to make 
the feeds prolific. 
The flowers of both fexes come out in very long bun¬ 
ches from the trunk between the leaves, and are covered 
with a fpatha, (or flieatb,) which opens and withers. 
Thofe of the male have fix ffiort ftamina, with narrow 
four-cornered anthers filled with farina. The female 
flowers have no ftamina ; hut have a roundilh germ, which 
afterwards becomes an oval berry, with a thick pulp 
inclofing a hard oblong (tone, with a deep furrow run¬ 
ning longitudinally. The bunches of fruit are fometimes 
very large. 
The fruit of this tree makes a great part of the diet of 
the inhabitants of Arabia; and part of Perfia. In Upper 
Egypt many families fubfift almoft entirely upon it. 
They make a conferve of it with fugar; and even grind 
the hard ftones in their hand-mills for their camels. In 
Barbary they turn handfome beads for pater-nofters of 
thefe ftones. The date is faid to ftrengthen the ftomach 
and inteftines, to ftop loofenefles, and -promote expecto¬ 
ration, for which purpofe it is given in peCtoral de- 
coftions. It is alfo recommended in the piles, given in 
red wine. 
From the leaves of the tree they make baikets or hags 
in Barbary. In Egypt they make fly-flaps of them, and 
brulhes to clean their fofas or clothes. The hard boughs 
are ufed as fences to their gardens, and cages to carry 
their fowls to market. The trunk is fplit for the fame 
purpofes, and is even ufed in fmall buildings. It ferves 
likewife for firing. The threads of the web-like integu¬ 
ment between the boughs make ropes and the rigging of 
fmaller veffels. 
The juice of the date-tree is procured by cutting off 
the head or crown of the more vigorous plant, and fcoop- 
ing the top of the trunk into the fiiape of a bafin ; where 
the fap, in afcending, lodges itfelf, at the rate of three or 
four quarts a day, during the firft week or fortnight; 
after which the quantity daily dimi'nifties, and at the end 
of fix weeks or two months the tree becomes dry, and 
ferves fcr timber or fire-wood. This liquor, which has a 
N I X. 
more lufcious fweetnefs than honey, is of the confiftence 
of a.thin fyrup, but quickly becomes tart and ropy, ac- 
quiringan intoxicating quality, and giving-, upon diftilla- 
tion an agreeable fpirit, or araky, which is the general 
name for all hot liquors extracted by the alembic. 
Native of the Levant. Though it has been cultivated 
in our ftoves for above two hundred years, no individual 
has yet been preferved long enough to bloffom; and very 
few have become caulefcent. In the fouth of France 
this plant forms a handfome tree, but brings no fruit to 
perfection. It is well known, that,as the maleand female 
flowers are generally the produce of diftinCt individuals, 
the two fexes require to be cultivated together, in order 
to obtain good fruit; and in this chiefly confilts the 
culture of the palm-tree. Hence the Linnseans have 
derived one of their moft ftriking proofs of the fexes of 
plants, the fad being recorded by thofe who were not 
inftrufted in that doCtrine. An ample and complete 
hiftory of this valuable tree, and its whole economy, is to 
be found in Kcempfer. 
2. Phoenix reclinata, the reclining date palm-treee: 
leaves pinnate, without thorns; leaflets linear-lanceolate, 
folded, loofely fpreading. Native of the Cape of Good 
Hope, wdience it was fenttoKew by Mr. Maflbn, in 1792. 
It is kept in the green-houfe, but has not flowered. 
3. Phoenix farinifera, the fmall date palm-tree : fronds 
pinnate; leaves narrower, more pointed. The trunk of 
this is only about two feet high, and fo entirely enveloped 
in the leaves that it is never feen, the whole appearing 
like a large round bulh. Spadix ereCI, much branched s 
branches Ample, fpreading in every direction ; eight to 
twelve inches long. Berry (or drupe) (hining black, fize of 
a large kidney-bean ; the pulp fweet and mealy, but in 
fmall quantity. Seed cartilaginous, of the fame fliape 
with the berry, grooved longitudinally, pretty fmooth, 
brown on the outflde, light-greyilh-white within : on the 
middle of the back a fmall elevation, under which is an 
oblong pit containing the embryo. Native of Coro man-, 
del, on dry barren ground, chiefly on fandy lands at a 
fmall diftance from the fea. It flowers in January and 
February; and the fruit is ripe in May. This the natives 
eat as gathered from the bulb, without any preparation. 
The leaflets are wrought into mats; the common petioles 
are fplit into three or four, and ufed for making ordinary 
baikets of various kinds; but they are not fo proper for 
this purpofe as the bamboo. 
The fmall trunk, when divefted of its leaves, and the 
ftrong brown fibrous web that furrounds the trunk at 
their infertions, is generally fifteen or eighteen inches 
long, and fix in diameter at the thickeft part; its exterior 
or woody part confilts of white fibres matted together, 
which envelopea large quantity of a farinaceous fubltance,- 
ufed as food by the natives in. times of fcarcity ; but to 
feparate this from the fibres, the trunk is fplit into fix or 
eight pieces, then dried, beaten in woody mortars, and 
afterwards fifted s the reft of the preparation confifts in 
boiling the meal into a thick gruel, or, as it is called in 
India, congee. It feems to be much lefs nutritive than 
fago, and is lefs palatable, being conftderably bitter when 
boiled; but probably, by more care in the preparation, or 
by varying the mode, it might be improved. It certainly 
deferves attention ; for, during the end of 1790 and be¬ 
ginning of 1791, it faved many lives, rice being very dear, 
'and at times not to be had. This is reprefented on the 
annexed Engraving from Dr. Roxburgh. 
4. Phoenix pulilla, the dwarf date-pa.lm, of Loureiro and 
Geertner, anfwers very nearly to the defcription of the 
preceding, except that the ltyle is laid to be (hort, and 
ltigma Ample. Perhaps the young ftyles. cohere, and 
appear to be only one. Gsertner’s figure indicates the 
rudiments of three feeds in thegermen, as in Roxburgh s 
plant. Loureiro defcribes the trunk as two feet high, 
thick and rugged ; fronds fix feet long, unarmed, pinnate, 
reclined ; leaflets long, awlfnaped, plaited, fmooth. 
Native of Cochinchina, on mountains fix leagues from. 
Hutea, 
