from nrengy the name given to It in the Moluccas. Its na-' 

 tural charadtcrs are as follow : 



Male jlowers, — ^The flieath of one piece; the fpadix' much 

 f-amifiedj calyx divided into fix foliole;?; the three exterior 

 fhort, in the form of a heart, and having a protuberance at 

 their bafe ; the three interior oval, and in alternate order with 

 the former. Stamina fifty or fixty filaments, almbft as long 

 as the interior folioles, and the reft almoft united or adherent- 

 to a fhort receptacle which rifes from the centre of the flower. 

 Theantherae linear, indented like a h^iart at the bafe, and ad-, 

 hering to filanients tl>e fumm its of which proje6t over them. 



Female jlowers on the iiune ftalk. The fheath and fpadix 

 as in the males-. Thev calyx divided into fi-x folioles; the 

 three exterior femicircular^ th€ three interior much larger^ 

 and having the form of an ifofceles triangle. Piftil : a 

 fimple oval ovarium, terminated by three pointed and feffile 

 ftigmata. Fruit : almoft fpheric, bacciibrm, with three cells 

 conlairiing each three feeds bearing three protuberances op-, 

 pofite to the ftigmata^ feeds oval, convex on the exterior and 

 deprcfled on the interior fide, where they have two facets fe-. 

 parated by an angle. The external fkin of each feed thin, 

 friable, ancJ covered on the outfidc with afperities. The 

 embryo lateral, and fituated in a peculiar cavity. 



The arcnga differs from the borajjus by its lateral embryo, 

 its (heath of one piece, and, in particular, by its fifty oriixty. 

 ftaminaj a remarkable conformation in a family, all the.ge-. 

 nera of which have fix ft:amii>a, except the caryota Linn, and 

 the manicaria Ga?rtn. which have from twenty to twenty-five.- 



The only kind of arcnga knovn- is the arengajacchariftray. 

 which rifes to the height of fifty or fixty feet ; its pinnated 

 leaves are about fifteen or fixteen feet in length ; the foliolea 

 Are dentated at the extremity, aiid have one or two appendages 

 at their bafe : the petioles are broad towards their barfe,- a-nd 

 furnifhed with long black filaments, of which the Malays 

 nrak<2 very durable ropes and cables. The petioles are em^ 

 ployed in th6 conftrutSlion of their houfes, and the folioles- 

 for covering them. 



A very faccharinc liquor is obtained from this palm by 

 tnakintr incifions in it : if properly managed, the liquor may 



he 



