While in many tropical countries the palms supply the inhabitants with many necessities, as building-woods, starch, sugar, fruits, fibers for ropes and cloth; in temperate climates the abundance of better material limits the use of the palm group.

Palms. - The numerous kinds differ in height, diameter, and structure. The fibro-vascular bundles vary in size and number, are exceedingly hard, and the surrounding pith either soft or very hard and solid at the outside and soft with few bundles on the inside. Usually the wood cuts easily when green, but only with the greatest difficulty when dry. Besides the use of the palmetto for wharf-piles, some of the palms are combined in cabinet-work, and used for canes and handles.

Rattan. - A long, slender, trailing palm, furnishing a tough, flexible material, which enters largely into the manufacture of furniture.

Bamboo. - A gigantic member of the grass family, grows in the tropical regions of America and Asia, and has a limited use in cabinet-work. Its hollow, jointed stem adapts it to many inferior uses, such as canes and handles, and when split and joined in a peculiar way forms the much-prized fishing-rods.