224 ARECACEAE 
slightly flattened on the ventral side. Endosperm solid. The plants flower chiefly in the 
spring and early summer. 
Shrub with creeping or horizontal stems: perianth 4-6 mm. long: drupe ovoid-obiong. 1. S. serrulata. 
Tree with a tall upright trunk : perianth about 1 mm. long: drupe globose. 2. S. arborescens. 
1. Serenoa serrulàta (Michx.) Hook. A shrub, with horizontal or creeping stems 
1-2.5 m. long. Leaves erect or ascending ; blades suborbicular, 3-7 dm. broad, rather 
stiff, light green, the segments cleft ; petioles usually longer than the blades, armed with 
sharp spiny teeth : spadix erect or spreading, much shorter than the leaves, paniculately 
branched ; branches tomentose : flowers fragrant, usually numerous: perianth ivory-white, 
sessile: calyx cup-shaped, about 1 mm. high, shallowly lobed: petals about 3 mm. long, 
oblong : drupe ovoid-oblong, 15-18 mm. long, black: seeds subglobose. 
In sandy soil, North Carolina and Arkansas to Florida and Texas. SAw PALMETTO. 
2. Serenoa arboréscens Sarg. A tree, with one or several erect ascending or de- 
cumbent trunks 8-12 m. tall and 6-10 cm. thick. Leaves spreading in all directions ; 
blades half-orbicular, 5-6 dm. broad, yellowish green above, blue-green beneath, truncate 
at the base, the segments linear-lanceolote ; ligule thin, short-pointed, with a red-brown 
deciduous margin ; petioles slender, rather shorter than the blades, armed with stout flat- 
tened orange teeth : spadix drooping, 1 m. long ora little longer, its rachis flattened, panicu- 
lately branched ; branches hoary-tomentose : flowers solitary or 2-3 in a cluster, sessile : 
perianth little over 1 mm. long : sepals chestnut-brown, oblong, sometimes lacerate : petals 
yellowish green, nearly distinct, oblong-ovate, acute : filaments almost triangular : drupes 
globose, usually 8-9 mm. in diameter, black, lustrous : seeds solitary, somewhat flattened 
at the base. 
About margins of swamps, along the Chockoloskee River, southern peninsular Florida. 
5. RHAPIDOPHYLLUM H. Wendl. & Drude. 
Low armed shrubs or trees, with erect or creeping stems. Leaves ample : blades 
suborbicular, deeply and unequally cleft, silvery beneath, the segments entire or 2-cleft at 
the apex, without marginal filaments : rachis wanting : ligule very short, rounded : peti- 
oles 3-angled, woolly beneath, the edges denticulate. Spadix short, erect, flattened, the 
short branches densely flowered. Flowers perfect or polygamo-dioecious.  Perianth 
yellow, not accrescent. Sepals broad gibbous at the base. Petals 3, broad, imbricated. 
Stamens 6.  Carpels usually 3, distinct : stigmas nearly sessile, recurved. Drupes solitary, 
rarely 3-lobed, with a fibrous pericarp. Seed spheroidal, erect. Endospern horny, some- 
what channeled. Embryo dorsal. 
1. Rhapidophylum Hystrix (Fraser) H. Wendl. A shrub with a proliferous 
erect or creeping stem 6-9 dm. long. Leaves about 1 m. long, somewhat glaucous ; blades 
suborbicular, 5-7 dm. in diameter, the segments numerous, 2-4-toothed, scurfy beneath ; 
petioles triangular, rough-edged : sheaths of fibers interwoven in the stout spines : spadices 
15-30 cm. long, short-peduncled : spathes often 4, woolly : perianth with ovate petals : 
drupe ovoid or oval-ovoid, 18-25 mm. long, red. 
In shaded pine lands, South Carolina to Florida. Spring or early summer. BLUE PALMETTO. 
NEEDLE PALM. 
6. ROYSTONEA O. F. Cook. 
Tall unarmed trees, with erect, cylindric or spindle-shaped stems. Leaves with pin- 
nate blades, the segments narrow, 2-cleft at the apex: rachis chaffy below: petioles 
dilated at the base: spadix pendulous, with slender drooping branches, shorter than the 
leaves. Flowers rather monoecious. Perianth white, sessile, the staminate often longer 
than the pistillate: sepals imbricated, unequal; petals valvate: stamens 6, 9 or 12, ex- 
serted : ovary rudimentary. Pistillate flowers with broader and more strongly imbricated 
sepals, broader petals, 6 scale-like staminodia and a 3-celled ovary. Drupe ovoid or ob- 
ovoid, curved, with a fleshy-fibrous pericarp and a thin endocarp. Seed solitary, with a 
thin crustaceous testa. Endosperm horny, even. Embryo basal. 
1. Roystonea régia (H.B.K.) O. F. Cook. A stately tree 20-30 m. tall, with a 
trunk often 5-6 dm. in diameter, tapering from the middle to both ends and arising from 
an enlarged base. Leaves 3-4 m. long : blades pinnate, the segments numerous, approxi- 
mate, 7-9 dm. long at the base of the blades, shorter above, acuminate, arising obliquely 
from the upper side of the rachis; petioles terete above, concave at the base: spadix 5-6 
