The flowers of this plant are distinguished by having the tube of the corolla narrowed in the middle, the stamens longer than the corolla, and the style longer than the stamens.
This magnificent native of North America is by no means an uncommon plant in our gardens, but, with us, it is seldom seen in flower. There is indeed a notion, but it is an erroneous one, that the American aloe does not bloom until it is a hundred years old. The fact is, that the flowering depends almost wholly on its growth. In hot countries it will flower in a few years; but in colder climates, the growth being slower, it is necessarily longer in arriving at maturity. The stem which bears the blossoms rises from the centre of the leaves, and, when the plant is in a vigorous state, it frequently exceeds the height of twenty feet. An American aloe in the garden of the king of Prussia was forty feet high. Branches issue from every side, and in such manner as to form a kind of pyramid, composed of greenish yellow flowers, which stand erect, and are seen in thick clusters at every joint. When in full flower, the appearance of this aloe is extremely splendid; and if the season be favourable, and the plant be sheltered from the cold in autumn, a succession of blossoms will sometimes be produced for near three months.
In the warmer parts of Europe, American aloes are cultivated as objects of considerable utility. They are frequently grown in rows, as fences, for enclosures, particularly in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. In Algarvia the leaves are employed for scouring pewter and other kitchen utensils, and floors; and, cut into slices, are used for the feeding of cattle.
By a certain preparation, the juice of the leaves is made into cakes, which are employed for washing, and which will lather with salt water as well as with fresh. The fibres of the leaves, when properly prepared, may be separated into threads that are useful in various ways. This separation is sometimes effected by bruising and steeping them in water, and afterwards beating them. The process, in some parts of Portugal, is, after plucking the largest and best leaves, to place them on a square board, which a person presses obliquely between his breast and the ground, and then scrapes with a square iron bar held in both hands. By this operation all the juices are pressed out, and only the fibres and some of the membranous parts of the leaves remain, which are then easily detached. The fibres are employed for all the purposes to which thread can be applied, but they are neither strong nor durable; and if exposed to moisture, they soon decay.
109. The FAN PALM is a very remarkable tree (Corypha umbraculifera) that grows in the East Indies, but particularly in Malabar, and the island of Ceylon; its leaves, eight or ten in number, rise out of the summit of the trunk, are winged and somewhat fan-shaped, and have their segments connected by a thread or fibre.
The stem of the fan palm is straight, cylindrical, smooth, and as tall as a ship's mast. Its leaves are upwards of six yards in length, and four yards wide; and form altogether a head of twelve or thirteen yards in diameter. These leaves, which, when dry, fold up somewhat like a fan, are used for the covering of huts and cottages; and not unfrequently by soldiers, instead of canvas, for the construction of tents. One of them is sufficiently large to shelter twenty persons from the rays of the sun. They are also a kind of natural paper on which the inhabitants write, by means of a sharp-pointed iron instrument, which leaves indelible marks upon them. Many of the books which are shown in Europe for those of Egyptian papyrus ([26]) are said to be formed of parts of these leaves.—The pith of the trunk, beaten into a kind of paste and mixed with water, is formed into cakes, and constitutes a species of bread, very serviceable to the inhabitants in times of scarcity. The juice of some parts of the tree is used as an emetic.
The fan palms are said not to bear fruit until they are near forty years old; but after this period, when in perfection, they produce annually more than twenty thousand berries each. These are each about 1½ inch diameter, of globular shape, smooth, green, and fleshy; but are not known to be of any use.
110. The ROTANG or DRAGON'S BLOOD TREE, is a species of cane (Calamus rotang) which grows to the length of more than a hundred feet, is about as thick as a man's arm, and is closely beset with erect prickles.
This cane has at the top a tuft of leaves which are several feet in length, and alternately winged, and of which the leaflets are sword-shaped, and armed with sharp spines.
In consequence of its great length and slender form, the rotang tree (which is usually found in woods near rivers, and in morassy places) does not grow entirely upright; but, after having attained the height of five or six yards, it depends, for support, upon other trees, which it sometimes overruns, in nearly an horizontal direction to the extent of sixty or eighty feet. The flowers are produced in upright spikes that separate into long spreading branches, and are succeeded by a red and somewhat egg-shaped fruit, which to the taste is pleasantly acid.