The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1879-05-14
404
The Sage Palm.
This will grow in FlOrIda.l

q tree from which the lnnaDlCanCS VI
the eastern portion of the Indian
Archipelago derive the tarinaceouS
nutriment which other nations of the
world obtain from cereal grains, or
farinaceous roots. Marco Polo IA. D.
1475) says of this tree -" And will
tell you another great marvel; they
have kind of trees that produce
-four, and excellent flour it is for food.
These trees are very tall and thick,
but have a very thin bark, and inside
this bark they are crammed with
-four" Friar Odoricus, of the Mi
norites, who visited the Indian Arch
ipelago about 1913 A. D., describe
the process by which sage meal was
obtained, thus: meal is produces
out of tie said trees after this man.
ner. They be mighty huge trees,
and when they are cut with an axe
by the ground, there cometh out Of
the stock certain liquor like unto
gum, which they take and put into
bags made of leaves, laying them for
fifteen days together abroad in the
sun, and at the end of those fifteen
days, when the said liquor is thor
oughly parcbed, it becometh meal.
Then they steep it first in sea water,
washing it afterwards in fresh water,
and so it is made very good and sa-
worry paste, whereof they make either
meat or bread, as they think good"
After the Nipa, the sage is in
stature the, smallest Of the palm
tribe, its extreme height seldom ex-
ceeding thirty feet, but it is the thick
est, except the Gomuti { Are'9a Sdcc]l-
0ryera), and full grown tree can
with difficulty be clasped between
both arms. In the early period OF Its
growth, and before the stem has
formed, this palm appears alto
gether like a cluster of so many
shoots. Until the stem has attained
the height Of five or six feet, it is
covered with sharp spines, which at
ford it protection from the attacks OF
the wild hog, or other wild beasts.
When, from the strength and maturi-
ty of the wood, this protection is no
longer necessary, the spines drop off.
Before the tree has attained its full
growth, and previous to the forma-
ton of the fruit, the stem consists of
a thin, hard wall, about two inches
thick, and of an enormous volume Of
spongy, medullary substance. This
medullary substance is the edible
farina, from which the inhabitants of
the Archipelago make their bread.
AS the fruit forms, the iarinaceous
pith disappears, and when the tree
attains full maturity the stem is no
more than hollow shell. The ut
most age of the tree does not exceed
thirty years. The sage palm loves
low, marshy situations, and will not
flourish ON dry or mountainous places.
Rumphius says -" This tree grows
best in miry or watery soil, where
men sink to the knee in mud. 1t
will also grow in gravelly soil, if
only it is charged with moisture, and
hence no plantation OF the sage tree
will thrive where there are not one
or more rivulets OF water" A bog,
knee-deep, is consequently the best
site for sage plantation. There are
four well-marked varieties of this
palm, namely:
l. The cultivated, S. Rumlohii or
s. Konigii, spinous, both on the
trunks and leaves. 2. The wild. B.
One distinguished by the length of
the spines on the branches. 4.
Another destitute of spines, $. lcecis,
Reinw., and usually called, by the
islanders, the female sage.
The first and last varieties yield
the best farina; the second hard
pith, from which the tarina is ex-
tracted with difficulty; while the
third, which has comparatively
slender trunk, contains but small
quantity OF tarina. TIE sage, like
other. palms, is propagated by the
seed or fruit, which lis of inconstant
shape and size, from prune to a
pigeons or pullet's egg,
The sage and Nipa palms furnish
in the Amboyna Isles wholesome
and abundant nourishment, tor a bas-
ket of their fruit will support seven
or eight persons for week. A
good tree will furnish thirty baskets
as an average harvest; the fruits
keep well in water.
The sage of the Arenga palm is
more palatable than that of the sage
palm, but the culture involves more
care, and the product does not keep
so well.