612
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
Order 10. Pal'm-e, Juss .— Tiie Palm Tribe.
Palmace^e, Lindl .
Fig.106.
Fig. 107.
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Cucifera thebaica, or Doum Palm,remarkable for its dichotomous stem.
a, shews the one-valved spathe, with a
branched spadix.
b, The fruit, a iibrous drupe.
,th
Essential Character. — Flowers hermaphrodite, or frequently polygamous. Perianosix-parted, in two series, persistent; the three outer segments often smaller, the in> ,ersometimes deeply connate. Stamens inserted into the base of the perianth, usuallydefinite in number, opposite the segments ot the perianth, to which they are equal ]l1number, seldom three ; sometimes, in a few polygamous genera, indefinite in numbe 1 "'Ovary one, three-celled, or deeply three-lobed; the lobes or cells one-seeded, with a 11erect ovule, rarely one-seeded. Fruit baccate or drupaceous, with fibrous fl eS jAlbumen cartilaginous, and either ruminate or furnished with a central or centra 1cavity ; embryo lodged in a particular cavity of the albumen, usually at a distant®from the hilum, dorsal and indicated by a little nipple, taper or pulley-shap e(1 !plumule included, scarcely visible; the cotyledonous extremity becoming thicken® 1 *in germination, and either filling up a pre-existing cavity, or one formed by tlieliquefaction of the albumen in the centre.— Trunk arborescent, simple (fig. 106), occa ’sionally shrubby and branched (fig. 107), rough with the dilated half-sheathing bas e *of the leaves or their scars. Leaves clustered, terminal, very large, pinnate or dab® 'liform, plaited in vernation. Spadix terminal, often branched, enclosed in a o ne °many valved spathe (fig. 106 a). Flowers small, with bractlets. Fruit occasional*;very large. ( R. Brown, 1810.)
Properties. —The stems of many palms (e. g. Sagus latvis and farinifera, SagRumphii, Phoenix farinifera, anil Caryota mens) yield a feculent matter, called s“9 'By incision into the spathe at the top of the stems of some (e. g. Cocos nucifera , Ca njota ureas, and Saguerus Rumphii), a saccharine liquor, termed sweet toddy, is procure^’which, when fermented, constitutes palm wine, and yields by distillation orr .rack. A waxy substance exudes from the stems of some (e. g. Ceroxylon And‘ c0 .LThe fruits of the palms want uniformity in their properties: thus, some are 01(e. g. Flats), some are saccharine and nourishing (e. g. Phoenix dactylifera ), s0 ^are acrid (e. g. Caryota wrens and Saguerus Rumphii ), others are astringent ( e, ^ tLatania borbonica), or acid (e. g. Calamus Rotang). The seeds, likewise, areuniform: those of Cocos nucifera are oleaginous, while those of Areca Catechuastringent.