Ar'eca

Ar'eca, a genus of palm, containing several species, having pinnate leaves and double spathes. The fruit is a fibrous one-seeded drupe, a nut with an outer fibrous husk. A. catechu, the Penang Palm, or Betel-nut Palm, is a native of the East Indies, whose nut yields a sort of Catechu (q.v.). This Areca-nut, or Betel-nut, is very much used in many parts of the East, the chewing of it with quicklime and the leaf of the betel-pepper being one of the most prevalent habits of the people (see BETEL). The nut is about the size of a hen's egg; the fibrous husk about half an inch thick. It is austere and astringent. It is doubtful if it possesses a narcotic power, or if this is to be ascribed entirely to the leaf which is used along with it. Areca-nuts form an article of trade in the East, are imported for tooth-powder and for dog-medicine (see WORMS, Vol. X. p. 744). The timber of the palm which produces them, and its leaf-stalks and spathes, are also used for domestic purposes. The tree is often 40 or 50 feet high, and in general less than a foot in diameter. The leaves are few, but very large, their leaflets more than a yard long. In Malabar, an inebriating lozenge is prepared from the sap.—A. oleracea, the Cabbage Palm of the West Indies, is a very tall tree, 100 to 200 feet, whose huge terminal leaf-bud is sweet and nutritious, and is sometimes used for the table as cabbage, but when it is cut off, the tree is destroyed. The stem of this tree, notwithstanding its great height, is remarkably slender.—A. sapida, the New Zealand Palm, is remarkable as extending southward beyond the geographical limits of any other of its order, as far indeed as 38° 22' S. lat. It is a small palm, only from 6 to 10 feet high, with leaves 4 to 6 feet long. The young inflorescence is eaten.