Both the Oreodoxa and the Ceroxylon are far surpassed in height by the Californian firs and the Eucalypti of Australia, but no other trees rise so proudly in the air on shafts comparatively so slender. While the enormous trunks of the Sequoias and Wellingtonias remind one of the massy pillars of our old gothic churches, the graceful palms recall to our memory the slender Ionic or Corinthian columns which adorn the masterpieces of Grecian architecture. The oil of the Corozo (_Elæis oleifera_) is usually burnt in the houses and churches of Carthagena and New Granada; and the _Oenocarpus disticha_ is cultivated in Brazil, as it furnishes an excellent oil for culinary purposes. The Pirijao (_Gulielma speciosa_) is planted round the huts of the Indians, and replaces in some districts the Mauritia as the tree of life. The Piaçava (_Attalia funifera_), whose stone-hard dark-brown nuts are manufactured into rosaries by the inhabitants of Villa Nova de Olivenza, is far more important, on account of its fibres, which, unknown a few years ago, are now imported into England in large quantities, where they serve for making brooms; and the amazingly hard nuts of the Cabeza di Negro (_Phytelephas_), rivalling ivory in whiteness, solidity, and beauty, are extensively used by our turners for similar purposes. Though no trees are more characteristic of the tropics than the palms, yet specimens are found far within the temperate regions. Along with the date-tree the _Chamærops humilis_ graces the environs of Nizza, and the _Areca sapida_ flourishes in the mild insular climate of New Zealand (38° S. lat). In Africa, the _Hyphæne coriacea_ grows at Port Natal (30° S. lat.), and in America the palms extend to 35° S. lat., both in the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, and in Chili, where the Choco indicates the extreme limits of the family. As these species are able to exist under a mean annual temperature of 58°, they might possibly be made to adorn the gardens of Penzance; most palms, however, require a mean temperature of from 70° to 72°, and on advancing towards the equator increase in beauty, stateliness of growth, and variety of form. Their chief seats are the lower regions of the torrid zone; but as some species range far to the north or south, thus others ascend the mountain-slopes, almost to the limits of perpetual snow. In South America, the _Ceroxylon andicola_ and the _Kunthia montana_ are found growing at an altitude of 6,000 and 9,000 feet, and in the Paramo de Guanacos, Humboldt even saw palms 13,000 feet above the level of the sea.