These beautiful trees may be ranked among the noblest specimens of
vegetation; and their tall, slender, unbranched stems, crowned by
elegant feathery foliage, composed of a cluster of gigantic leaves,
render them, although of several varieties, different in appearance from
all other trees. In some kinds of palm the stem is irregularly thick; in
others, slender as a reed. It is scaly in one species, and prickly in
another. In the _Palma real_, in Cuba, the stem swells out like a
spindle in the middle. At the summit of these stems, which in some cases
attain an altitude of upwards of 180 feet, a crown of leaves, either
feathery or fan-shaped (for there is not a great variety in their
general form), spreads out on all sides, the leaves being frequently
from twelve to fifteen feet in length. In some species the foliage is of
a dark green and shining surface, like that of a laurel or holly; in
others, silvery on the under-side, as in the willow; and there is one
species of palm with a fan-shaped leaf, adorned with concentric blue and
yellow rings, like the "eyes" of a peacock's tail.

[Illustration: PALMS OF ARIMATHEA.]

The flowers of most of the palms are as beautiful as the trees. Those of
the _Palma real_ are of a brilliant white, rendering them visible from a
great distance; but, generally, the blossoms are of a pale yellow. To
these succeed very different forms of fruit: in one species it consists
of a cluster of egg-shaped berries, sometimes seventy or eighty in
number, of a brilliant purple and gold colour, which form a wholesome
food.

South America contains the finest specimens, as well as the most
numerous varieties of palm: in Asia the tree is not very common; and of