Mil, J. GA^IMIE ON ABISCEMA SPECIOSUM. 21 



The Palniistes (Palms) here are two in number : one, the Pal- 

 miste bon, is, I believe, the same as one growing in Mauritius ; 

 it has a long, thin, straight, tapering stem ; the other, called here 

 Palmiste marron, is very clearly and easily distinguished from it ; 

 its stem, at first thin, gradually thickens, and then tapers at the 

 summit, so that it has a thick bulged part in the middle. The 

 flowering spike is different, as well as the leaves ; and, further, 

 whilst the Palrniste Ion makes an excellent salad, this species, if 

 eaten, is apt to poison. There is only one species of Latanier 

 Palm, which is, I believe, similar to one found in Mauritius. 



I have not sent any specimens of plants or rocks by this mail, 

 as I have not got all the necessary packing-materials here ; I shall, 

 however, despatch them as soon as I return to Mauritius. 







Rodriguez, November 3, 1874. 



Extract from a Letter from Mr. J. Gammie to Dr. Hookkk. 



[Eead February 4, 1875.] 



* 



Deab Sir,— * 



Some time ago you asked me to find out the use of the thread- 

 like appendage to the spadix oiAriscema speciosum. It has lately 

 been in flower ; and I have examined hundreds of them, but can 

 come to no satisfactory conclusion. Tour own surmise, that the 

 appendage is a sort of gangway to lead wingless insects from 

 spadix to spadix, may be the correct explanation ; but I did not 

 see an insect of any description crawling along any one of them, 

 and, with the exception of a solitary spider, I found no insects 

 inside the spathe. . The spider had spun a web across the mouth 

 of the spathe as though it expected visitors ; and as spiders are 

 not in the habit of making webs for show merely, I suppose in- 

 sects do visit the flowers. I was much struck with the excess 

 of the male over the female inflorescences ; and on counting 

 in many different places I found about ten spadices of the 

 former to one of the latter. At first I thought that the spa- 

 dix-thread might be to keep the flaccid end of the spathe from 

 falling down and closing up the mouth. The leaf and flower- 

 stalks come up together with the thread hitched in between the 

 leaflets. Afterwards, when the leaf-stalk rises beyond the pe- 

 duncle, the thread becomes tolerably tight, with the end of the 



