Tab. 6776. 
RAVEN EA HItpEeBranptil. 
Native of the Comoro Islands. 
N. at. Ord. Patmz.—Tribe CoamuporReEm. 
Genus Ravenea, Bouché; (Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. vol. iii. p. 883, nomen 
tantum.) 
Cuar. Gen.—Flores dioici (v. monoici), in spadicibus interfoliaceis simpliciter 
ramosis pedicellati, bracteolati, carnosuli. Fl. dg. Calyx cupularis, 3-lobus. 
Petala 3, basi connata, ovato-oblonga, acuminata, seepe 2-dentata, patentia, 
3-5-nervia, valvata. Stamina 6, filamentis brevibus subulatis basi inter se et 
basi corolla cohwrentibus; anthere oblonga, basifixe. Ovarii rudimentum 
minimum, globosum, trifidum. FI. 2 masculos subequantes. Calyx cupularis, 
3-lobus. Petala 3, oblongo-lanceolata, acuminata, 3-5-nervia, erecta, Sta- 
minodia 6, maxima, antheris magnis cassis. Ovarium lageniforme, 3-loculare, 
loculis 2 effoetis ; stigmata late trigona, recurva; ovulum parietale, pendulum. 
Fructus (memoriter) parvulus, curvus, stigmatibus subbasilaribus. Semen 
minimum, ellipsoideum, hilo parvo, rapheos ramis nullis, albumine equabili; 
embryo hilo proximus.— Palma gracilis, erecta, inermis. Folia longe petio- 
lata, primordialia bifida, petiolo plano-concavo, costa apice in filum 
excurrente ; segmentis lineari-lanceolatis acuminatis, costa subtus paleacea, 
paleis verticalibus oblongis laceris sepe semi-lunatis. Spadices longe 
pedunculati; spathe 4, tubulose, fusco-tomentosa, persistentes ; & recurvi, 
ramis brevibus densifloris patentibus; 92 erecti, rachi elongata, ramis fili- 
formibus strictis basi incrassatis. Flores pallide straminet. Fructus 
niger.—W endl. MSS. 
R. Hildebrandtii, Bouché in Monats. Verein. Beford. Gartenh. 1878, 197, 323, 
cum ic. rylog, 324. Lemaire Ill, Hortic. vol. xxvii. p. 164, cum ie. 
A very elegant dwarf Palm, a native of the Comoro 
Islands, of which but little has hitherto been known, for 
in the publications cited above, no description is given of 
flower or fruit, and figures of palms without these are as 
valueless as are those of grasses similarly destitute of organs 
of fructification. The specimen cultivated at Kew flowered 
for the first time last summer, and when still a small (male) 
plant, standing on the shelf of the palm-house; and I im- 
mediately wrote to Mr. Wendland about it, who answered — 
that he had materials for describing the female plant and 
fruit, and would forward these tome. ‘This is the source 
of the full description of the genus given above, and it 
SEPTEMBER lst, 1884, 
