Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1891-04-17
PALMS.
THE AnIsroCEACY Of THE
VEGETABLE KINGDOM.
Many Palms are UsefuI.to NIan--rhc
Historical Cocoa PAlm-Thc
"Qneen OF the Oasis'-
The Betel Nut.

Palms, says II. D. Welcome in the
Independent, have been called the
aristocracy of the vegetable kingdom.
It is estimated that there are about $50
varieties. They are found in different
lands and under varied conditions;
grouped in copse like glades, scattered
through tropical forests, standing
proudly alone on the plain and towering
on the mountains hight. An abundance
of water and warm climate arc, how
ever, essential for the palm. There are
200 varieties in the Sunda Islands, the
Moluccas and New Guinea, and only
one in Europe.
The umbrella palm grows in Ceylon
and Madras to the hight of forty-five
feet to sixty feet, and has leaves more
than eighteen feet long with fans from
nine to twelve feet in diameter, and to
the end of its long life it carries u
gigantic inforescence sixty feet in hight.
The forest palms of the Indian Archi-
pelago of special note are the cocoa, the
sugar palm, the sage palm and the betel
nut or catcchu PALM. Isolated and alono
in its stately grandeur is the giant
Llvistona; its crest towering above all
other trees, can be seen at u distance of
many miles. y
In market contrast with these immense
palms there is u very dwarf variety, with
large fcathery leaves. There are also the
climbing palms which wind themselves
among the forest trees to a height of
twelve to fifteen hundred feet and make
the jungle almost impenctrablc by reason
of their strong prickles and swayiug ten
drills, thickly set with thorns and hooks.
One of the most useful of the palms is
the cocoa which grows in Ceylon and
other places in profusion and luxuriantly,
furnishing food, drink, clothing, ma
terial for building, oil and ropes. From
the sap toddy is made, and from this, by
distilation, arracll is procured. The ox-
ports of the oil has been estimated at two
millions of gallons year.
There is another species of cocoa palm
far moro rare-a- native only of the Sey-
chelles Islands of tho Indian Ocean, aud
now limited to two of them. 1t is of
majestic growth and has fan-shaped
leaves eighteen feet IN length and three
in diameter. The fruit has some rcsen-
blance to the cocoanut, but the palm docs
not belong to that genus. 1t is divided
into two sections, hence is called the
double cocoanut. 1t has long played
quite an important part in history and
mythical story, being no doubt the once
famous 'tsca nut" found floating in the
ocean, and on the shores of the NIaldivc
Islands. Ignorant Of their source they
were regarded with superstition, and
pilgrimagcs were made to the places
where even fragment Of the nut was
found, as it was believed to possess
curative power. 1t is stated that the
Emperor Rudolph was unable to pur-
chase one of these nuts for his offer of
$1,000.
The rittool palm is very peculiar and
somber in appearance, having a crest
which greatly resembles the dropping
plumes upon hearsc; the foliage is dark
green with tinge of gray; the wood is
almost black, and it is the toughest of
all palms. From it the natives make
their bows.
The talipot palm is adorned with a
crest of nearly circular, fan-shaped leaves,
of so tough and durable n nature that the
natives sew them together and make
tents of them. The leaf averages in cir
conference from twenty to thirty feet.
but sometimes exceeds this size they are
used for umbrellas. The TALBOT has this
pcculiarity-it blossoms only once in q
long period of years, and then dies. The
flower forms a magnificent, plume like
crown, resembling white ostrich feathers
which stand upon the summit of the tall
palm as tho they were its natural head.
Previous to unfolding, the flower is
packed in large case or bud about -four
feet long. When it can no longer with
stand the pressure it bursts open with Il
loud report, revealing the beautiful plume
towering above the dropping leaves
fastening to decay.
The doom palm is native of Egypt.
Unlike any other species, it has forked
trunk. 1t grows to height of thirty
feet, and its fan -shapcd leaves are fire.
quently six feet in length. 1t bears n
pear-shaped fruit, which is extensively
used for food, the taste of which has
been compared to an unbaked ginger
bread kneaded up with tooth brush. 1t
is made eatable by carefully bruising it
with stones; and the natives think it is
very nice.
The areca palm belongs to the feath-
cry class. 1t attains height of forty to
eighty feet, but is of slender growth, the
trunk only measuring usually eight inches
in thickness. The crown measures from
seven to thirteen feet in diameter, and
the leaves are from three to tour feet
long. This tree bears the famous betel
nut which is as precious to the native In
dian as tobacco is to the American. The
fruit is about the size of hens egg, of
pale yellow color, and within this
fbrous husk is the nut which is about us
large as the yelil of an egg, and marbled
like nutmeg on the inside. These nuts
grow in clusters beneath the crest, and
one tree will produce about two hundred
annually. A plant climbs up the trunk
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