Aug. 25, 1919] 



Palms of the Philippine Islands 



3025 



Fructibus quam in varietate luzonensi minoribus, 12-15 

 mm. diam.; nucleo 10-13 mm. diam.; albumine ab intru- 

 sione integumenti saepius omnino, attamen non semper, 

 transfosso. 



Field-note: — A slender tree; trunk 6 inches thick, 

 45 feet high, evenly ringed from bottom to top, grayish 

 white; leaves circular, strongly plicate below the middle, 

 chartaceous, paler and subglaucescently green beneath, 

 crowded at the top, the older ones hanging, the younger 

 ones erect while the middle ones are horizontal. 3 to 5 

 feet across, the free segments also hanging; petiole 3 to 

 5 feet long, recurved, the basal portion much ex- 

 panded, the margins densely provided with a brown 

 matrix of shredded fibers, triangularly flattened, the edges 

 smooth except the basal portion above the expanded 

 base; ■ infrutescence axillary from the basal leaves; 

 the stalk 5 feet long, strongly recurved, covered with 

 brown sheath-like bracts, somewhat flattened toward 

 the base across the upper side. 1.5 inches wide; branches 

 scattered every 6 inches, alternating, the longer basal 

 ones 1 foot long, all yellowish; fruit 0.5 inch in diameter, 

 globose, hard, shining vermillion red, ultimately 'wine 

 red or nearly black. 



Mindanao: Todaya (Mt. Apo), District of Davao, 

 May 1909, number 11967. Gathered in rich wooded flats 

 a few miles west of Digos. "Balla" is the Bagobo name. 



Livistona rotundifolia luzonensis Becc. var. nov. 



Fructibus exacte sphaericis, 2 cm. diam. albumine 

 ab intrusione integumenti omnino perfosso. 



The main character by which this variety differs 

 from typical Livistona rotundifolia Mart, of the Moluccas and 

 Celebes is found in the fruit whose albumen is traversed 

 completely from the base to the top by the intrusion 

 of the integument, whereas in the typical form that in- 

 trusion covers only two thirds of the albumen. Further- 

 more the young leaves of the variety are armed with 

 narrow very sharp sinuous spines 15 to 20 mm. in 

 length, whereas in the full grown plants the petioles 

 are closely armed with short spines, the intermediate 

 segments are briefly bifid at the apex. 



Field note:— Straight and perfectly terete trees; trunk 6 

 to 10 inches thick, 35 feet high; wood very hard on the out- 

 side with compact black fibers, the greater central portion 

 pithy; bark smooth, hard, grayish white, with shallow 

 or obscure rings; leaves comparatively short, crowded 

 at the top, ascending; blades fan shaped, 3 to 5 feet 



