Tab. 8652. 

 CHAMAEDOREA nana. 



Costa Rica. 



Palmaceae. Tribe Areceae. 



Chamaedorea, Willd. ; Benih. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, vol. iii. p. 910. 



Chamaedorea nana, N. E. Br. in Kew Bulletin, 1914, p. 156 ; species 

 C. tenellae, Wendl., affinis sed foliis majoribus confertioribus subglaueis 

 spathis superioribus pedunculo vix aequalibus, spadicibus masculis ramosis' 

 floribus viridibus et petalis liberis differt. 



Frutex 30-60 cm. altus, omnino glaber. Caulis simplex, 1-3-1-4 cm. crassus, 

 annulis 0*5-1 cm. distantibus notatus. Folia simplicia; petiolus 7-5-9 

 cm. longus, fere vel usque ad apicem vaginatus, apice 4-5 mm. crassus; 

 lamina subobovato-elliptica, basi cuneata, ad medium bifida lobis acutis,' 

 leviter glaucescens, costa rigida utrinsecus circiter 11-nerve, marginibus 

 exterioribus serrato-dentatis. Pedunculi axillares, solitarii, 15-20 cm. 

 longi, 2 • 5-4 mm. crassi, spathis vel vaginis 5 tubulosis acutis vestiti. Spatha 

 suprema pedunculum haud excedens vel eo brevior. Spadix masculus 

 ramosus, ramis 4-7 recurvato-pendulis simplicibus usque ad 15 cm. longis ■ 

 femineus simplex, recurvatus, viridis. Flores sublaxe spicati ; masculi 

 oblongi 4 mm. longi, virides, basi lutei, calyce cupuliformi subtrilobo 

 1 mm. longo, petalis liberis oblongis apice incurvatis acutis, staminibus 

 petalis duplo brevioribus ovario rudimentario subaequalibus ; feminei 

 subglobosi, 2-5 mm. diametro, virides, petalis ellipticis vel suborbiculatia 

 obtusis concavis, ovario globoso, stylo 0*5 mm. longo, stigmate integro — 

 N. E. Brown. 



The pleasing small Palm which forms the subject of 

 our figure is a native of Costa Rica whence it was 

 imported by Messrs. F. Sander and Sons, St. Albans, to 

 whom its introduction to cultivation is due. When first 

 distributed by them it was offered under the name 

 Chamaedorea pumila. But while it belongs to this genus, 

 our plant is very distinct from the true C. pumila] 

 Wendl., in its leaves, those of C. pumila being twice as 

 long and at the same time much narrower and with 

 more acute lobes than in C. nana now described ; the 

 peduncle of the female spadix of C. pumila is also much 

 longer than that of our plant. Its nearest ally is another 

 small species, C. tenella, Wendl., a native of Mexico, 

 from which C. nana differs in its larger, more clustered 

 leaves which are paler beneath, its shorter upper spathes, 

 its branching male spadices, and its green flowers with 

 free petals. The material for our illustration has been 



March, 1916. 



