Doum Palm
or DOOM PALM, a species of palm, a native of Egypt, remarkable for the manner in which its trunk divides dichotomously, the branches terminating in tufts of large fan-shaped leaves. The pericarp is about the size of an apple, and is used as food by the poorer classes. It has a taste resembling that of gingerbread, whence the tree itthe tree it self is sometimes called the gingerbreadtree. The fibers of the leaf-stalks are made into ropes, and small ornaments are made of the seeds. An infusion of the rind is used in fevers, and as an aperient.