The Resrtacea are herbaceous under shrubs, with naked a or protected by slit sheaths, flowers in spikes, separated Py 7 and generally unisexual. They are distinguishable by ge a

opposite to the umbilicus, by their thin stamens placed opp’

GRAMINACEOUS PLANTS.

293

inner glumes, their simple unilocular anthers, their glumaceous flowers, and their membranous sheath between the glumes and the ovary. They are natives of the woods and marshes of New Holland and South Africa.

The ERIOCAULACEÆ are perennial marsh plants with cellular spongy leaves sheathing at the base, very minute capitate and bracteate flowers. Glumes two, and unilateral, a membranous tube, anthers two-celled, and in the Xyrids a perfect corolla, connecting them with the higher organised Endogens. They are chiefly aquatic, two-thirds of them natives of tropical America, a sixth are Australian, and the remainder North American. One species is found in the Island of Skye.

Passing over many Endogens of secondary interest, the several orders of which are enumerated in the brief summary we have given of them, we reach the Palms, the culminating point of vegetative power in Endogens.

The PALMACEÆ are for the most part trees of gigantic growth, always forming wood and occasionally reaching dimensions altogether unknown among other plants. The Calami or Rotans, for instance, according to Humphries, are sometimes 1,200, and even 1,800 feet long, rising to the tops of the highest trees and falling again. The Palms occupy their place in the first ranks of vegetation as much by the majestic beauty and elegance of their appearance, as for their services to the inhabitants of the tropics, to whom they furnish at once bread, oil, and wine. Let us examine the Date Palm as a type of this vegetable group.

This beautiful tree (represented in Fig. 353), which has deservedly received the name of the Prince of Vegetables, raises its straight and column-like stem from eighty to ninety feet. It is crowned by an ample tuft of from forty to fifty leaves, which sometimes attain the length of ten or twelve feet, floating from the summit in rigid, linear, lanceolate, sword-shaped folioles, each arranged like the fringes of a feather. From the axils of the leaves issue coriaceous spathes of a single piece, which opens on one side and permits the passage of long branchy panicles, which ultimately bear small flowers, which are generally male on one tree and female on another, for it is to be noted that the Date Palms

are diseceous trees, and it is well known that in order to produce

Fig. 353—The Date Pio. me fruit from this tree, it is usual to have recourse toartificialimpres-

nation of the female flowers, a practice which has been carried on from the earliest times in the countries where the date is cultivated. The male flower of the Date Tree is borne on a very short sepalous calyx; has a thin petalous corolla much larger, with six stamens, furnished with long linear anthers, the two cells of which open themselves from within by two longitudinal ‘slits. The female flowers present a double floral envelope, each whorl of which is formed of three pieces, forming three distinct pistils, each surmounted by a stigmata in the form of a hook. Of these three pistils one only develops itself, ripens, and becomes an elongated, ovid berry, with a slight epidermis of a yellowish red, a solid and slightly viscous pulp, and an endocarp represented by a slight pellicle enveloping the nucleus, which is the seed. This seed is cylindrical, growing thinner at its two extremities, deeply grooved in its whole length on one side, and presenting in the middle of the other a small circular depression—an operculum, which is destined to fall out at the moment of germination to let out the radicle germs, in the manner described in the chapter on Germination, in speaking of the Indian Shot. In short, this operculum corresponds to a little hollow where the germ is placed m such a manner that its great axis (if one can speak of the great axis of such a little thing) is perpendicular to the surface of the seed. It will be seen, in conclusion, from Fig. 354, which gives a representation of the seed of a Date, that it is almost entirely _ Composed of a hard horny albuminous substance, the = thick walled cells of which are filled with albuminous and fatty matter. _ The Date Tree, indigenous to Arabia and the north

of Africa, is pre-eminently the tree of the oasis of the desert; that which, according to the allegorical language of the Orientals, plunges its foot into the water and its into the fires of heaven. It is planted as an emamental tree in Corsica, Sardinia, and in the north oe of Italy, but it does not ripen in these countries, or only _ Mperfectly. By incisions in the trunk of the Date _ eee Palm a sweet liquid is obtained which is called the milk Fig,"4—Seet ofthe Palm Tree, which after being subject to fermenta-. a - Hon takes a vinous flavour. When distilled, this liquid furnishes

a very pleasing alcohol. The stem of the same tree supplies the natives with their wood for firing and construction, its leaves are employed to roof their houses, and from its folioles negroes manufacture baskets, mats, hats, &c. The compass of this work will not permit us to give the history of the different species of Palms, which are so numerous and so interesting, from their structure, beauty, and utility. We must confine ourselves to the mention of those whose form is the most remarkable.

The Cocoa-nut Tree (Cocos nucifera) is an inhabitant of the whole torrid zones, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the seas. It rises to the height of a hundred feet, and is surmounted by a crest of pinnated leaves resembling a bunch of feathers about twelve feet long; the fruit is a drupe as large as the head of a man, with a fibrous mesocarpe and a bony endocarpe; the seed 18 almost entirely formed of a fleshy white albumen; in the interior the centre of this albumen is occupied by a clear liquid, an agree able and refreshing beverage, a sort of vegetable milk. A fixed oil is obtained from the Cocoa-nut Tree; every part of the tree, 10

short, is useful to man, either to clothe, feed, or shelter him. We borrow from Bonifas-Guizot’s Botany for Youth the following passage, which, whether allegorical or the experiences of an actual traveller, gives with some piquancy an idea of the infinitely varied advantages which the inhabitants of tropical countries draw from the Cocoa-nut Tree and its products:—‘ Imagine @ traveller — passing through one of these countries, situated under @ burt ing sky, where coolness and shade are so rare, and where habitations, in which to take the repose so necessary to the traveller, are only to be found at considerable distances. Panting mee:: dispirited, the poor traveller at length perceives a hut surrounded — by some trees with straight, erect stems, surmounted by an = mense tuft of great leaves, some being upright and the others: pendent, giving an elegant and agreeable aspect to the scen® — Nothing else near the cabin indicates cultivated land. “At this sight the spirits of the traveller revive; he collects io his strength, and is soon beneath the hospitable roof. ie 2 host offers him a sourish drink, with which he slakes his: é it refreshes him. When he has taken some repose, the + _ Invites him to share his repast. He serves up various meats, at

vessel, smooth and glossy; he serves tained in a brown-looking also some wine of an extremely agreeable flavour. Towards the end of the repast his host offers him certain succulent comforts, and he is made to taste some excellent spirits. The astonished traveller asks who in this desert country furnishes him with all these things. ‘My cocoa-nut tree,’ is the reply. ‘The water I presented you with on your arrival is drawn from the fruit before it is ripe, and some of the nuts which contain it weigh three or four pounds. This almond, so delicate in its flavour, is the fruit when ripe. This milk which you find so agreeable is drawn from the nut; this cabbage, whose flavour is so delicate, is the top of the Cocoa-nut, but we rarely regale ourselves with this delicacy, for the tree from which the cabbage is cut dies soon after. This Wine, with which you are so satisfied, is still furnished by the Cocoa-nut tree. In order to obtain it an incision is made into the spathe of the flowers. It flows from it in a white liquor, which is gathered in proper vessels, and we call it palm-wine; exposed to By distillation we the sun, it gets sour and turns to vinegar. obtain this very good brandy which you have tasted. The sap are sweetened. these preserves the sugar with which has supplied These vessels and utensils have been made out of the shell of the nut. Nor is this all: this habitation itself I owe entirely to these constructed; their mvaluable trees;with their wood my cabin is umbrella, leaves, dried and plaited, form the roof; made into an they shelter me from the sun in my walks; the clothes which cover me are woven out of the filaments of their leaves. These mats, which serve so many useful purposes, proceed from them also. The sifter which you behold was found made to my hand in that part of the tree whence the leaves issue; with these same leaves Woven together we can make sails for ships; the species of fibre that envelops the nut is much preferable to tow for caulking : ships; it does not rot in the water, and it swells in imbibing it; it makes excellent string, and all sorts of cable and cordage. ie Finally, the delicate oil that has seasoned many of our meats, and kernel.’” from the fresh | thatwhich burns in my lamp, is expressed to the poor Indian, astonishmentoe stranger would listen with everything which tree, had nearly Cocoa-nut- having only his . Was Necessary for his existence. When the traveller was disposed

to take his departure, his host again addressed him: “I am about to write to a friend I have in the city. May I ask you to charge yourself with my communication?” “Yes; but will your Cocoa-nut tree still supply you with what you want?” “Certainly,” said the Indian; “with the saw-dust from severing the leaves I made this ink, and with the leaves this parchment; in former times it was used to record all public and memorable acts.”

In the great conservatories of Kew, of the Museum de Paris, and of St. Petersburg, magnificent specimens of Palms are cultivated, which flourish there and fructify frequently. One of these is shown in Fig. 8, one of the two species of Chamerops humilis which decorate the entrance to the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. This species is indigenous to the south of Europe; the others belong almost exclusively to the torrid zone, and to the warmer regions of the temperate zone. The species of Chamerops are numerous in India, and the Indian Archipelago. They swarm in equatorii rare on the African continent im America, but are comparatively consequence of the long periods of dry weather to which the

climate is subject. Another species of Palm, extremely well - known in Central America, and which forms immense forests 2 Brazil, is the Mauritia flexuosa, represented in Fig. 395. |

The Avorra Pam (Elais Guineensis) is a magnificent tee originally from Guinea, from whence it has been transported oe Asia and America. Its fruit, which is about the size of an olive, is of a golden yellow, and filled with a liquid oil known under — the name of palm oil, which serves for the manufacture of soap, and is imported to Europe for that purpose, being one te principal objects of exportation from the east coast of Africa.

Page 44 of 93