554 Cook : A Synopsis of the 



m 



ich as 2 mm. thick. The color of the roots and tubercles is 



white. 



The royal palm of Florida is commonly referred to Oreodoxa 

 regia, though with very doubtful propriety. Apparently on ac- 

 count of its great size, Cooper (Smithsonian Report i860: 440. 

 1 861) was inclined to identify it with Oreodoxa oleracea which had 

 also been reported from the Bahamas. The inflorescence and 

 seeds collected by Curtis on the western borders of the everglades 



* 



(no. 2676) are, however, obviously not those of R. oleracea but are 

 much more similar to those of R. regia. The branches of the in- 

 florescence are much longer and more lax than those of the species 

 of Cuba and Puerto Rico, from which they also differ in the fre- 

 quent development o( tertiary branches, in this respect resembling 

 Roystonea oleracea. The fruits do not resemble those of R. oleracea 

 but are closely similar to those of the other species though some- 

 what smaller and more nearly spherical. Several reliable witnesses 

 are on record to the effect that the trees are from 28 to 35 metres 

 high and as much as 45 metres has been claimed, while among the 

 royal palms of Cuba and Puerto Rico 18 metres is the commonly 

 recognized limit of size. Mr. C. T. Simpson, of the U. S. National 

 Museum, states that the palms of southwestern Florida lack the 

 conspicuous bulge so characteristic in the trunks of the Puerto 

 Ricon trees, and that they grow almost in reach of tide-water, 

 while the natural habitat of the Puerto Rico species is evidently 

 the limestone hills. In view of these differences it seems prefer- 

 able to treat the Florida royal palm as a distinct species, for which 



the name Roystonea Floridana is proposed. 



Mr. Simpson also informs me that the royal palms seen on the 

 islands off the coast of Honduras had the size and habit of those 

 of Florida and not the relatively stunted appearance of those seen 

 by him in Hayti and Jamaica. This fact is suggestive in connec- 

 tion with the popular idea that the palms of Florida are to be 

 looked upon as recent arrivals from Cuba. Instead it seems more 

 reasonable to believe that the royal palm of Puerto Rico, like the 

 species of Tkrinax of that island, is a remnant of the flora of the 

 time when the limestone hills were keys and hammocks like those 

 of southern Florida, and relatively poor in vegetation able to 

 crowd out the palms. 



