552 Cook : A Synopsis of the 



Puerto Rico landscape as a respectful compliment to General Roy- 

 Stone, the American engineer officer who secured the admiration 

 of the people of Puerto Rico by his fearlessness and conspicu- 

 ous energy in the Adjuntas road-building campaign which flanked 

 the line of Spanish defenses, and whose subsequent interest in the 

 improvement of the island will undoubtedly affect its future history. 



Roystonea Borinquena sp. nov. Plate ^5. f. 2. 



Trunk normally fusiform, 30-60 cm. thick, 12-18 m. high. 

 Leaf-segments 4-4*4 cm. in width. Inflorescence robust, com- 

 pact, twice-branched, the branches numerous and coarse, ferrugi- 

 nous, pubescent. Fruits long-oval, yellowish brown at maturity. 

 Seeds 8 mm. by 6.3 mm., flattened about the hilum, rounded below ; . 

 wall of endocarp smooth, adherent over a small area. 



The royal palm of Puerto Rico differs from that of Cuba in 

 haying the trunk generally shorter, more robust and more dis- 

 tinctly fusiform. The inflorescence is twice branched, with the 

 branches more densely clustered, coarser and darker colored than 

 those of the Cuban royal palm, Roystonea regia. They are also 

 covered with a slightly hispid brown pubescence while Cuban 

 specimens are much smoother and more pallid. The difference of 

 habit, to judge from photographs of the Cuban species, is most 

 apparent when the trees have grown in the open, as when planted 

 in avenues or along roadsides. In Puerto Rico, trees which are 

 obliged to compete with other vegetation are often tall, slender and 

 un symmetrical. The typical form is shown in our photograph 



J 



Marti 



as from 8 to 12 lines. Cuban specimens show as much as one 

 inch and a quarter, while others from Porto Rico are half an inch 

 wider (44 mm.) of somewhat coarser texture and with more widely 

 separated secondary veins. The fruits of the Puerto Rico palm are 



I 



a deep yellowish brown when ripe, while those of the Cuban are said 

 to become violet or bluish black. According to Martius, the fruits 

 of the Cuban species are 6 lines by 4, but dried specimens show 

 no such discrepancy of proportions and measure only about 8.5 

 mm. by 7.5 mm. 



In Puerto Rico the fresh fruits are also much longer than broad, 

 perhaps even more slender than the figures given for the Cuban ; 



