cases branching, when present, is probably the result of some injury to the terminal bud at the top of the stem, in consequence of which buds sprout out from below the apex.
The internal structure of the stem does not differ fundamentally from that of a typical monocotyledonous stem, the taller, harder trunks owing their hardness not only to the fibrous or woody skeleton but also to the fact that, as growth goes on, the originally soft cellular ground tissue through which the fibres run becomes hardened by the deposit of woody matter within the cells, so that ultimately the cellular portions become as hard as the woody fibrous tissue.
The leaves of palms are either arranged at more or less distant intervals along the stem, as in the canes (Calamus, Daemonorops, fig. 2, &c.), or are approximated in tufts at the end of the stem, thus forming those noble crowns of foliage (figs. 5, 6, 7) which are so closely associated with the general idea of a palm. In the young condition, while still unfolded, these leaves, with the succulent end of the stem from which they arise, form “the cabbage,” which in some species is highly esteemed as an article of food.
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| Fig. 4. |
| 1, Fruit of date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera), nat. size. |
| 2, Same cut lengthwise showing seed s. |
The adult leaf very generally presents a sheathing base tapering upwards into the stalk or petiole, and this again bearing the lamina or blade. The sheath and the petiole very often bear stout spines, as in the rattan palms (see fig. 2); and when, in course of time, the upper parts of the leaf decay and fall off, the base of the leaf-stalk and sheath often remain, either entirely or in their fibrous portions only, which latter constitute the investment to the stem already mentioned. In size the leaves vary within very wide limits, some being only a few inches in extent, while those of the noble Caryota may be measured in tens of feet. In form the leaves of palms are very rarely simple; usually they are more or less divided, sometimes, as in Caryota, extremely so. In species of Geonoma, Verschaffeltia and some others, the leaf splits into two divisions at the apex and not elsewhere; but more usually the leaves branch regularly in a palmate fashion as in the fan-palms Latania, Borassus (fig. 7), Chamaerops, Sabal, &c., or in a pinnate fashion as in the feather-palms, Areca (fig. 3), Kentia, Calamus, Daemonorops (fig. 2), &c. The form of the segments is generally more or less linear, but a very distinct appearance is given by the broad wedge-shaped leaflets of such palms as Caryota, Martinezia or Mauritia. These forms run one into another by transitional gradations; and even in the same palm the form of the leaf is often very different at different stages of its growth, so that it is a difficult matter to name correctly seedling or juvenile palms in the condition in which we generally meet with them in the nurseries, or even to foresee what the future development of the plant is likely to be. Like the other parts of the plant, the leaves are sometimes invested with hairs or spines; and, in some instances, as in the magnificent Ceroxylon andicola, the under surface is of a glaucous white or bluish colour, from a coating of wax.
The inflorescence of palms consists generally of a fleshy spike, either simple or much branched, studded with numerous, sometimes extremely numerous, flowers, and enveloped by one or more sheathing bracts called “spathes” (fig. 5). These parts may be small, or they may attain relatively enormous dimensions, hanging down from amid the crown of foliage like huge tresses, and adding greatly to the noble effect of the leaves. In some cases, as in the Talipot palm, the tree only flowers once; it grows for many years until it has become a large tree then develops a huge inflorescence, and after the fruit has ripened, dies.
The individual flowers are usually small (figs. 3, 6), greenish and insignificant; their general structure has been mentioned already. Modifications from the typical structure arise from difference of texture, and specially from suppression of parts, in consequence of which the flowers are very generally unisexual (figs. 1, 3, 6), though the flowers of the two sexes are generally produced on the same tree (monoecious), not indeed always in the same season, for a tree in one year may produce all male flowers and in the next all female flowers. Sometimes the flowers are modified by an increase in the number of parts; thus the usually six stamens may be represented by 12 to 24 or even by hundreds. The carpels are usually three in number, and more or less combined; but they may be free, and their number may be reduced to two or even one. In any case each carpel contains but a single ovule.
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| Fig. 5.—Acrocomia sclerocarpa, much reduced. |
| sp, Spathe enveloping the fruits, shown on a larger scale in 1. |
| 2, A fruit half nat. size. |
| 3, The same cut lengthwise, m, Fibrous mesocarp; en, hard endocarp; s, seed. |
Owing to the sexual arrangements before mentioned, the pollen has to be transported by the agency of the wind or of insects to the female flowers. This is facilitated sometimes by the elastic movements of the stamens and anthers, which liberate the pollen so freely at certain times that travellers speak of the date-palms of Egypt (Phoenix dactylifera) being at daybreak hidden in a mist of pollen grains. In other cases fertilization is effected by the agency of man, who removes the male flowers and scatters the pollen over the fruit-bearing trees. This practice has been followed in the case of the date from time immemorial; and it afforded one of the earliest and most irrefragable proofs by means of which the sexuality of plants was finally established. In the course of ripening of the fruit two of the carpels with their ovules may become absorbed, as in the coco-nut, the fruit of which contains only one seed though the three carpels are indicated by the three longitudinal sutures and by the presence of three germ-pores on the hard endocarp.
The fruit is various in form, size and character; sometimes, as in the common date (fig. 4) it is a berry with a fleshy rind enclosing a hard stony kernel, the true seed; the fruit of Areca (fig. 3) is similar; sometimes it is a kind of drupe as in Acrocomia (fig. 5), or the coconut, Cocos nucifera, where the fibrous central portion investing the hard shell corresponds to the fleshy portion of a plum or cherry, while the shell or nut corresponds to the stone of stone-fruits, the seed being the kernel. In Borassus the three seeds are each enclosed in a separate chamber formed by the stony endocarp (fig. 7). Sometimes, as in the species of Metroxylon (fig. 6), Raphia, Daemonorops (fig. 2), &c., the fruit is covered with hard, pointed, reflexed shining scales, which give it a very remarkable appearance
The seeds show a corresponding variety in size and shape, but
