Tas. 7963.. 
GEONOMA araciiis. 
Native of Tropical America, 
Nat. Ord. Patmat.—Tribe ARECER. 
Genus Gronoma, Willd.; (Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 913.) 
Gronoma gracilis; palma gracilis, caule erecto 4 ped. alto 1} poll. diametro nudo 
annulato, foliis confertis arcuatis 24 ped. longis, petiolis 14 ped. longis 
supra concavis linea media elevata subtus convexis, rhachibus supra 
obtuse triangularibus subtus convexis, foliolis lineari-lanceolatis acumi- 
natis ad 1 ped. longis 3-6 lin. latis circa trinervibus facie superiore sparse 
squamatis, paniculis laxis, ramis tenuibus, floribus masculis: sepalis 
navicularibus scariosis 1 lin. longis apice leviter hirsutis, petalis quam 
sepalis paulo longioribus ovatis obtusis membranaceis hyalinis, stami- 
num tubo I$ lin. longo tubuloso-campanulato, filamentorum parte libera 
quam tubo dimidio breviore, antheris lineari-oblongis 4 lin. longis loculis 
basi tantum connatis Jate divergentibus, ovarii rudimento minuto, 
floribus femineis: sepalis oblongis obtusis scariosis 1 lin. longis petalis 
ovatis acutis submembranaceis, staminodiis cupnlatim connatis quam 
stylo (ramis exclusis) equilongis, ovario abortu 1-loculari, stylo basali, 
ovulo ascendente. ~ a 
G. gracilis, Linden & André in Tllustr. Hortie. vol. xxi. (1874) p. 73, t. 169. 
Hi. Wendl. ex Kerchove, Les Palmiers, pp. 245 et 323 (1878). 
G. Riedeliana, H. Wendl. ex Linden & André, loc. cit. 
This palm was first described in 1874 by Linden and 
André, who quote as a synonym the previously unpublished 
name of Geonoma Riedeliana, H. Wendl. In Kerchove’s 
“Les Palmiers,” it is reduced to G. Riedeliana, but a 
G. gracilis, H. Wendl., is retained, which is not described, 
but illustrated by a reproduction (on a reduced scale) of 
Linden and André’s figure of their G. gracilis. | | 
Although this palm has long been in cultivation, its. 
origin is still obscure. Wendland records it from 
Costa Rica; while Linden and André state that it was 
collected in Eastern Brazil by Riedel, and afterwards by 
Binot, who sent it to Europe. It is not mentioned in 
Martius’s “ Flora Brasiliensis,” nor by Tonduz in his 
“Flora de Costa Rica.” Its nearest ally is the Brazilian 
G. Schottiana, Mart., which much resembles it in habit, 
but differs in having sub-opposite, decussate flowers. It 
also approaches some of the forms of G. Spruceana, Traill. 
JuLy Ist, 1904. 
