Tan. Bere, 
SYNECHANTHUS rrsrosvs. 
Native of Guatemala. 
Nat. Ord. Patmex.—Tribe CoaM@DOREX. 
Genus Synecnantuvs, H. Wendl. in Bot. Zeit. vol. xvi. p- 145. 
Synecnantuvs fibrosus ; palma gracilis, inermis, caudice arundinaceo annulato, 
foliis pari-pinnatis, foliolis multijugis hic illic interruptis lineari-lanceolatis 
acuminatis medio costatis 5—7-nerviis basi lata insertis, marginibus basi recurvis, 
vaginis brevibus, spadicibus interfoliaceis longe pedunculatis 2-3-plicato ramosis 
erectis fructiferis pendulis, ramis strictis gracillimis compressis, spathis pluribus 
tubulosis membranaceis persistentibus, floribus minutis in acervulos elongatos 
distichos ramulos spadicis alternatim marginantes dispositis, inferiore in acervulo 
ceteris ¢, sepalis transverse oblongis, petalis ¢ ovatis valvatis, 9 orbicularibus 
imbricatis, staminibus 6, ovario globoso 3-loculari, stigmatibus 3 sessilibus, 
bacca ellipsoidea 1-sperma. 
8. fibrosus, Wendl. l. ec. 
Ratuea fibrosa, Karst. in Wochenschr. vol. i. p. 377, vol. ii. p. 15. 
A graceful tropical Palm, one of a genus of three known 
Species, two of them natives of that part of the American 
continent which, extending from Mexico to Panama, is 
commonly known as Central America, and which includes 
Yucatan, Guatemala, Belise, Honduras, Nicaragua, and 
Costa Rica; the third Colombian. These countries are all 
rich in Palms, for a knowledge of which we are mainly 
indebted to Herman Wendland and (irsted, the enterprising 
botanical explorers of those unhealthy regions. 
Synechanthus is remarkable for the arrangement of the 
flowers, which form linear groups of eight or ten, placed 
alternately on the opposite edges of the compressed branches 
of the spadix, the lower flower alone in each group being 
female, the rest male. In this respect Synechanthus a good 
deal resembles the Mauritian genus Hyophorbe, which differs 
very materially in its infra-foliaceous spadix, in the presence 
of staminodia, in the one-celled, one-ovuled ovary, and the 
AUGUST Ist, 1881. 
