~ 
having numerous stamens (Kenfia having only 6), and 
because of the absence of staminodes from the female 
flowers. H. Belmoreana, like its ally, H. Worsteriana, is 
confined to Lord Howe Island, where it was reported by 
Messrs. C. Moore and Carron, its discoverers, as common 
at altitudes below 1,000 feet. Its specific name is in 
honour of the Right Hon. the Earl of Belmore, who was 
Governor of New South Wales in 1868. The flowers of 
H. Belmoreana, as stated by F. Mueller (Fragm. viii. 234), 
are extremely difficult to distinguish from those of 
H. Forsteriana, which has been figured at t. 7018 of this 
work under Kentia, and has there been referred to the 
species elmoreana. The pinnae of the true HH. Bel- 
moreana, however, converge upwards, while those of 
H. Forsteriana are drooping and proportionately broader, 
thus giving the two species a very different appearance. 
In addition to this //. Belmoreana does not attain so 
large a size before it flowers as //. Forsteriana does. Ina 
letter addressed to Kew in 1892 Mr. Charles Moore called 
attention to the difference in the fruiting spikes of the 
palms, those of //. Belmoreana being twice as long as 
those of H. Forstvriana, solitary to their respective sheaths 
and in appearance unisexual, whereas in //. Forsteriana 
the spikes are several united at the base within a common 
sheath, each spike being manifestly 2-sexual. The 
apparently unisexual nature of the spike in H. Belmoreana 
is, however, deceptive and is due to the length of time 
which elapses between the maturing of the male and the 
female flowers respectively. In each trio of flowers 
along the spike the two male flowers first appear in 
close contact, the female flower which is situated between 
each pair of males being then but slightly developed and 
deeply seated in the pit of the spadix. The male flowers 
readily disarticulate and give place to the slowly 
developing female one. ‘The introduction of H. Bel- 
moreana to cultivation in this country took place in 1872, 
and it has since been as extensively cultivated as an orna- 
mental plant as its ally H. Forsteriana. The plant from 
which our figure has been prepared was purchased when 
small from Messrs. F. Sander and Sons, St. Albans, and 
has grown along with H. Forsteriana, in the Mexican 
House at Kew. Both palms require an intermediate 
