Palms, next to Coniferæ, and some species of Eucalyptus belonging to the family of the Myrtaceæ, afford examples of the loftiest growth. Stems of the Cabbage-palm (_Areca oleracea_) have been seen from 160 to 170 feet in height.[OD] The Wax-palm, our Ceroxylon andicola, which we discovered in the Montaña de Quindiu on the side of the Andes, between Ibague and Carthago, attains the enormous height of 180 to 190 feet. I was able to make an accurate measurement of the trunks of some of these trees, which had been felled in the woods. Next to the Wax-palm, the Oreodoxa Sancona, which we found in flower in the valley of Cauca, and which affords a very hard and admirable wood for building, appeared to me to be the highest of all American palms. The fact, that notwithstanding the enormous mass of fruit yielded by some single palms, the number of individuals of each species growing wild is not very considerable, can only be explained by the frequent abortive development of the fruit, and by the voracity of the enemies by whom they are assailed from all classes of animals. In the basin of the Orinoco, however, whole tribes find the means of subsistence for many months together in the fruit of the palm. “In palmetis, Pihiguao consitis, singuli trunci quotannis fere 400 fructus ferunt pomiformes, tritumque est verbum inter Fratres S. Francisci, ad ripas Orinoci et Guainiæ degentes, mire pinguescere Indorum corpora, quoties uberem Palmæ fructum fundant.”[OE] Footnote 86: p. 224—“_From the earliest infancy of human civilization_.” We find, as far as history and tradition extend, that the Banana has constantly been cultivated in all continents within the tropical zone. The fact of African slaves having, in the course of centuries, brought some varieties of the Banana fruit to America is as certain as that of the cultivation of this vegetable product by the natives of America prior to its discovery by Columbus. The Guaikeri Indians in Cumana assured us that on the coast of Paria, near the Golfo Triste, the Banana will occasionally produce germinating seeds, if the fruit be suffered to ripen on the stem. It is from this cause, that wild Bananas are occasionally found in the recesses of the forests, in consequence of the ripe seeds being scattered abroad by birds. At Bordones also, near Cumana, perfectly formed and matured seeds have been occasionally found in the fruit of the Banana.[OF]