CHAPTER XIII

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PALMS AND FERNS.

The Cocoa-nut Tree--Its hundred Uses--Cocoa-nut Oil--Coir-- Porcupine Wood--Enemies of the Cocoa Palm--The Sago Palm-- The Saguer--The Gumatty--The Areca Palm--The Palmyra Palm-- The Talipot--The Cocoa de Mer--Ratans--A Ratan bridge in Ceylon--The Date Tree--The Oil Palms of Africa--The Oil Trade at Bonny--Its vast and growing Importance--American Palms-- The Carnauba--The Ceroxylon andicola--The Cabbage Palm--The Gulielma speciosa--The Piaçava--Difficulties of the Botanist in ascertaining the various species of Palms--Their wide geographical range--Different Physiognomy of the Palms according to their height--The Position and Form of their Fronds--Their Fruits--Their Trunk--The Yriartea ventricosa--Arborescent Ferns 146

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