Convention— liEMARKABLE trees and plants. 185 
soup. It yields from its trunk a pleasant and harmless drink, 
which, however, becomes intoxicating in a few hours. 
The Palmyra Palm is a native of the East Indies; the stem attains 
a height of forty or even sixty feet, and is described by travelers 
to be a remarkably beautiful tree, with its magnificent crown of 
large fanshaped leaves; The palm leaf fan which we enjoy sc much 
on a hot day, is made from this leaf. The fruit is as large as a 
quart bowl, having a thick, glossy, dark-brown or black rind, and 
containing three seeds, each as large as a goose egg. This palm 
abounds greatly in the north of Ceylon, forming extensive forests. 
It furnishes a great part of the sugar, wine and arrack (an intoxica¬ 
ting drink) of India. Thousands of the inhabitants of Ceylon de¬ 
pend upon this tree for the supply of all their bodily ^wants. It is 
put to as many as seven hundred different uses. 
The Date Palm often grows to the height of a hundred feet. 
This “ tree of the desert, which plunges its foot into the w^ater, and 
its head into the fires of Heaven,” is a great blessing to mankind. In 
the oases of the desert of Sahara, groups of this palm are frequent¬ 
ly seen, and what a priceless boon to the weary traveler in this des¬ 
olate land they must be, for here is found refreshing food, shade, 
and shelter, that is able to give man and beast new strength, and 
courage to press onward over the burning sands. This very inter¬ 
esting and beautiful tree seems doubly dear to us, for, in its shade 
our Saviour found rest and repose, when weary, footsore and dis¬ 
couraged, and it is also from this tree, as Jesus approached Jerusa¬ 
lem, that the multitude of people took branches of palm trees and 
went forth to meet Him, shouting, “ Hosanna, blessed is he that 
cometh in the name of the Lord;” hence our Palm Sunday. 
Mohammedans believe according to the Koran, that Mary, the 
mother of Jesus, took refuge under this tree, and there gave birth 
to the Saviour, and by its fruits she was miraculously supplied with 
food, for in shaking the tree (although it was without fruit, being 
in w’inter), ripe dates fell upon her for her refreshment, “to eat, 
drink and calm her mind.” 
The Ivory Palm is said to be the most beautiful of all the palm 
family. It grows abundantly in South America. The stem is short 
and sometimes so weak that it leans upon neighboring trees for 
support, but the leaf is magnificent as it rises thirty or forty, feet in 
length, like an immense ostrich plume. The fruit is as large as a 
