OF FOBKED AND BRANCHED PALMS. 295 



[5] ; Coneghur (Scott), ibid. [2] ; Grote in Proceedings Linn. Soc. 

 1872-73, p. vi, " Drawing of branched cocoanut palm." 



In the Arecese the branches vary in number from two to 

 eighteen. "Where the stem is simply forked, the branches have 

 arisen as will be shown presently in Cocos nucifera. The 

 branches often are erect, numerous, and closely packed. The 

 destruction of the terminal bud is particularly observed in one 

 instance, Areca Catechu ; and the result is a mass of adventitious 

 buds crowded near the apex. In Oreodoxa regia the candelabral 

 appearance of the branches in the specimen found at Baracoa, 

 Cuba, is very remarkable, as it exhibits an extreme development 

 of morbid growth. In most of the other specimens the branches 

 are healthy and well grown ; and in the New-Zealand Bhopalo- 

 stylis, especially, there is now, at least, no trace of either disease 



or injury. The occurrence of branched specimens in the genus 

 Leopoldinia is apparently new. 



Amongst the Phcenicese the date-palm, Phoenix dactylifera, is 

 recorded in a branched state only with a small side-branch on the 

 main stem. The only accessible figure is that given by Martius, 

 and this exhibits a side-branch midway between the base and 

 summit. Numerous shoots are, however, thrown out in this 

 species near the base. Similar shoots in a specimen at Bombay 

 are thrown out at 3 feet from the base. It is possible a shoot 

 similar to that shown by Martius (when the terminal head of 

 leaves is intact) may be only an extreme instance of the occur- 

 rence of basal shoots ; or it may have been produced when the 

 terminal bud was temporarily checked but not destroyed. There 

 is, however, a third alternative, viz. that it is an instance of 

 the displacement of a flowering-shoot by a branch-shoot. The 

 material for arriving at a satisfactory conclusion in regard to this 

 species is incomplete. 



The numerous instances recorded of branching in Phoenix syl- 

 vestris, supported by good drawings and photographs, offer a 

 much better field for investigation. There are two very clearly 

 traced causes for branching in this palm. The more general 

 cause is probably injury to the terminal bud during the process 

 of tapping for toddy. In a large number of cases the branched 

 specimens show marks of having been tapped. It is possible 

 that where this is severe, it has led to the destruction of the 

 tree ; in others with a greater vitality it has only caused the loss 





