120 cook: a new genus of palms 



trunk, leaves, and the mature flowers were drawn from a palm stand- 

 ing at the side of the Court House in San Diego, CaHfornia. 



This species, or at least a member of this genus, is represented 

 also in the Economic Herbarium of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture by two vials of dried fruits from Australia, one from Baron 

 von Mueller, formerly director of the Botanical Garden at Melbourne, 

 and the other from Dr. J. H. Maiden, Director of the Botanical Garden 

 at Sidney, the latter received as Ptychosperma elegans (S. P. I. No. 

 1329). These two lots, which are very closely alike, differ from the 

 typical material in having the strap-like fibers somewhat narrower 

 and more frequently branched. Fruits from the Philippine Islands, 

 collected by Mr. H. Boyle, are somewhat smaller than those from 

 Australia. 



Nothing has been learned regarding the introduction of Loroma 

 into California, but its botanical relationships indicate that it is a 

 native of northern Australia, along with the true Seaforthia elegans 

 and Archontophuenix alexandrae. Though both of these palms have 

 been reported very frequently from California, their existence there is 

 not certain; the confusion of names would naturally obscure the need 

 of introducing genuine examples of the species. The newly recognized 

 type is a distinctly larger and more robust palm than the true Sea- 

 forthia elegans, but smaller and more slender than the true Archonto- 

 phoenix alexandrae, which is more similar in general appearance to the 

 royal palms of the American tropics. 



The habit of the inflorescences to remain enclosed in the leaf-bases, 

 and thus secure protection till the time of flowering, may be con- 

 sidered as an adaptive specialization. The very soft thin texture of the 

 spathes indicates that these have little or no protective function. In 

 the case in which it was possible to observe the sequence of events the 

 spathes opened on the same day that the old leaf fell off; the blade 

 of the leaf was dead, but the tissue of the basal sheath was still rather 

 fresh. 



Flowers in alcohol showed on the next day a notable brown dis- 

 coloration of the petals and filaments, but the anthers remained white. 

 The change of color seemed to be dependent on exposure to the light, 

 or to the air in the bottle. Flowers on the under side of the mass were 

 scarcely changed, the delicate pink tint still appearing fresh. The name 

 chosen for the species alludes to the very attractive color of the flowers, 

 which is rather unusual among palms. 



In attempting a specific identification of the cultivated palm just 

 described almost as many difficulties were encountered as with the 



