In different sections of Africa there are species of palm trees, characteristic of special localities. These are of the greatest value and importance to the natives.
In the north the date palm, in particular, is a never-failing means of sustenance, and seems to be a special provision of Providence for the wants of man, flourishing in regions of comparatively barren, and often surrounded by the hot, arid sands of the desert.
THE ARAB TO THE PALM
Bayard Taylor.
If I were a king, O stately tree,
A likeness, glorious as might be,
In the court of my palace I'd build for thee!
With a shaft of silver, burnished bright,
And leaves of beryl and malachite;
With spikes of golden-bloom ablaze,
And fruits of topaz and chrysoprase.
And there the poets in thy praise,
Should night and morning frame new lays,—
New measures sung to tunes divine;
But none, O palm, should equal mine!
The doom palm is another species, and is remarkable for its many-forked stem. It is found in Upper Egypt and in Central Africa, and in some sections is very plentiful, forming forests; while in others it is found in isolated groups, growing in the very sands of the desert.
The leaves of this tree are shaped like a fan. From the fibres of its leafstalks ropes are sometimes made. The tree is, however, still more useful, for it bears a fruit about the size of an orange. In shape it is somewhat different, being larger and more irregular.
The outer skin of the fruit is red. Upon peeling this off, a thick, spongy, dry substance is found, having rather an insipid sweet taste, and very much the appearance of gingerbread. For this reason the tree is sometimes called the "gingerbread tree."