ARECACEAE 221 
119. Carex Bicknéllii Britton. Stems and scapes 5-10 dm. high, the latter rough. 
above, much surpassing the leaves: leaves mostly nearly basal; blades 3-5 mm. wide: 
bracts usually very short: spikes 3-7, ovoid, subglobose, or somewhat obovoid, 8-12 mm. 
long, silvery green or becoming yellowish: perigynia very broadly ovate, thin, several- 
nerved on the outer face, 4-6 mm. long, the broad membranous wing 1 mm. wide, the 
rough 2-toothed beak 1-3 as long as the body : achenes stipitate. 
In dry soil, New York to Minnesota, the Indian Territory and Kansas. Summer. 
Order 6. ARECALES. 
Shrubs or trees, with erect or horizontal stems (caudices), growing by a single 
terminal bud. Leaves at the end of the stem: petioles with imbricated bases : 
blades plaited in the bud, fan-shaped or pinnate. Flowers perfect or polyga- 
mous, disposed on more or less compound axillary spadices. Perianth in 2 series, 
persistent. Calyx of 3 united or nearly distinct sepals. Corolla of 3 partially 
united or distinct petals. Androecium of mostly 6, or sometimes 9-12 stamens. 
Filaments dilated at the base and partially united. Anthers introrse. Gynoe- 
cium of 3 more or less united or distinct carpels. Ovules solitary in each carpel, 
erect, orthotropous or anatropous. Fruit usually a drupe, developed from 1 car- 
pel, or sometimes a berry. Seeds often hollow. Endosperm horny or cartila- 
ginous, rarely channelled, with the embryo near its surface. 
FAMILY 1. AREGACEAE Reichenb. PALM FAMILY. 
Characters of the order. [Palmae. ] 
Leaf-blades fan-shaped. 
Calyx and corolla united into a 6-lobed or truncate cup, or obsolete. 
Endosperm even : drupe with white flesh. 1, THRINAX. 
Endosperm channeled : drupe with black flesh. 2. COCCOTHRINAX. 
Calyx and corolla distinct and manifestly in 2 series. 
Style or stigma basal on the drupe. 9. SABAL. 
Style or stigma terminating the drupe. 
Lobes of the corolla, or petals, valvate: flowers perfect: carpels free: 
stigmas sessile. 4. SERENOA. 
Lobes of the corolla, or petals, imbricated: flowers mostly polygamo- 
dioecious: carpels free only at the base: style slender. 5. RHAPIDOPHYLLUM. 
Leaf-blades pinnate. 
Drupe with style or stigmas nearly basal: stamens exserted : endosperm not 
enclosing a milky juice. 
Drupe violet-blue: branches of the spadix erect or ascending. 6. ROYSTONEA. 
Drupe orange-searlet : branches of the spadix spreading. 7. PSEUDOPHOENIX. 
Drupe with style or stigmas terminal: stamens included: endosperm hollow, 
enclosing a milky juice. 8. Cocos." 
1. THRINAX L. 
Unarmed trees, with solitary or tufted, often elongated stems. Leaf-blades orbicular 
or sometimes truncate at the base, many-cleft, the segments 2-cleft: rachis short or want- 
ing: ligule free, erect, concave: petioles with smooth edges. Spadix elongated, clothed 
with tube-like sheaths, paniculately branched. Flowers perfect. Calyx and corolla united 
into a lobed or truncate cup, not accrescent. Stamens mostly 6: filaments united at the 
base. Ovary 1-celled: style columnar: stigma concave or flat. Drupe globose, with a 
thin white flesh. Seed free, erect. Endosperm horny, even. Embryo lateral. The 
plants flower in the spring, and mature their fruit about six months later. 
Flowers slender-pedicelled: sepals and petals united into an obscurely lobed or 
truncate cup: filaments subulate : stigma oblique. 1. T. Floridana. 
Flowers on short disk-like pedicels: sepals and petals partially united, acute: fila- 
ments nearly triangular: stigma not oblique. B 
Trunk without a basal enlargement: spadix 3-6 dm. long: drupe 3-4 mm. in 
diameter. 2. T. microcarpa. 
Trunk with a basal enlargement: spadix nearly 2 m. long: drupe 5-6 mm. in j 
diameter. 3. T. Keyensis. 
. i. Thrinax Floridàna Sarg. A slender tree, with a slightly tapering trunk becom- 
ing about 9 m. tall, usually less than 15 .cm in diameter and partially clothed with the 
persistent leaf-bases. Leaves ample ; blades rather longer than broad, about 9-13 dm. in 
