Its
well-known fruit affords sustenance to the dwellers on the borders of
the great African desert; it is as necessary to them as is the camel,
and in many cases they may be said to owe their existence to it alone.
The tree rears its column-like stem to the height of ninety feet, and
its crown consists of fifty leaves about twelve feet in length and
fringed at the edges like a feather. Between the leaf and the stem there
issue several horny spathes, or sheaths, out of which spring clusters of
panicles that bear small white flowers,' These flowers are followed by
the dates, which grow in a dense bunch that hangs down several feet."
"But how do people manage to climb such a tree as that," asked Malcolm,
"to get the dates? It goes straight up in the air without any branches,
and looks as if it would snap in two if any one tried it."
"It does not snap, though, for it is very strong; and the climbing is
easier than you imagine, even when the tree is a hundred feet high, as
it sometimes is. The trunk, you see, is full of rugged knots. These
projections are the remains of decayed leaves which have dropped off
when their work was done. As the older leaves decay the stalk advances
in height. It has not true wood, like most trees, but the stem has
bundles of fibres that are closely pressed together on the outer part.
Toward the root these are so entwined that they become as hard as iron
and are very difficult to cut. The tree grows very slowly, but it lives
for centuries.
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