CHAMÆROPS

CHAMÆROPS, in botany: A genus of the na-
tural order of palmæ. The hermaphrodite calyx is
tripartite; the corolla tripetalous; there are six flamma-
na, three pistils, and three monospermous plums.
The male, in a distinct plant, the same as the hermaphro-
dite. There are two species, the most remarkable of
which is the glabra, a native of the West Indies, and
warm parts of America, also of the corresponding la-
titudes of Asia and Africa. It never rises with a tall
stem; but when the plants are old, their leaves are five
or six feet long, and upwards of two feet broad; these
spread open like a fan, having many foldings, and at
the top are deeply divided like the fingers of a hand.
This plant the Americans call thatch, from the use to
which the leaves are applied.—Under the name of pal-
metto, however, Mr Adanson describes a species of
palm which grows naturally at Senegal, whose trunk
rises from 50 to 60 feet in height: from the upper end
of the trunk issues a bundle of leaves, which, in turn-
ing off, form a round head; each leaf represents a fan
of five or six feet in expansion, supported by a tail of
the same length. Of these trees, some produce male
flowers, which are consequently barren; others are fe-
male, and loaded with fruit, which succeed each other
uninterruptedly almost the whole year round. The
fruit of the large palmettos, Mr Adanson affirms to be
of the bigness of an ordinary melon, but rounder: it is
enveloped in two skins as tough as leather, and as thick
as strong parchment; within the fruit is yellowish,
and full of filaments fastened to three large kernels in the
middle. The negroes are very fond of this fruit,
which,

Chamanim which, when baked under the ashes, is said to taste like a quince.

Chamber The little palmetto may be easily raised in this country from seeds brought from America; but, as the plants are tender, they must be constantly kept in a bark-stove.