FLORA VITIENSIS. 273 
4, P. Pickeringii, (sp. nov.) Herm. Wendl. in Seem. Bonplandia, 1862, p. 194; affinis 
P. gracili, Labill., differt: segmentis brevioribus apice oblique truncatis, apicalibus brevissimis 9-10 
cm. longis; spadicibus duplicato-triplicato-ramosissimis, ramulis gracilibus, floribus laxe spiraliter 
dispositis.—Island of Ovalau (Pickering !). ; A 
5. P. Vitiense, (sp. nov.) Herm. Wendl. in Seem. Bonplandia, 1861, p. 260, et 1862, p. 195; 
segmentis lato-linearibus, basi cuneatis, antice oblique premorsis dentatisque apice obtusis vel 
paululum productis, apicalibus profunde bifidis.—Islands of Ovalau and Viti Levu (Seemann! 
n. 662). 
In Wilkes's * Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, mention is made of a Caryota, as 
growing in Fiji, and being used for rafters in building. “Its straight stem, with its durable, hard, and 
tough qualities, render it well adapted for this purpose.” No one has subsequently met with a true Caryota, 
one of the most remarkable geuera of this Natural Order; and I faney that the botanists of Wilkes's 
expedition may have mistaken for a Caryota the eroso-dentate leaves of a timber-yielding Palm, probably 
this Ptychosperma Vitiense, Wendl., abounding in some parts of Viti Levu. It is about forty feet high, 
has a smooth trunk, pinnatifid leaves, and was seen by me at Nukubalavu. I have not been able to learn 
its native name. 
6. P. filiferum, (sp. nov.) Herm. Wendl. in Seem. Bonplandia, 1862, p. 195; segmentis 
elongato-lanceolatis, faleatis, apice valde oblique acuminatis coriaceis rigidis, infimis apice in filum 
longissimum 1-2 m. longum terminantibus; baccis ellipticis (aurantiacis) albumine :equabiii.— 
Nomina vernac. Vitiensia, “ Cagicake ” et '* Niu niu."—On the Macuata (northern) coast of Vanua 
Levu (Seemann! n. 661). 3 
The Niu niu, or as it is more commonly termed, Cagicake, is found in the depth of the forest, where 
it shows its feathéry crown above the surrounding trees, forming what St. Pierre poetically called “ a forest 
above a forest," and what the Fijians less skilfully wished to express by the name of Cagicake, literally, 
« above the wind.” Before I had seen the fruit the natives described it to me as being exactly the same 
shape and colour as that of the Niu sawa, but only very much smaller in size; and in this they were pretty 
correct. Whilst the fruit of the Niu sawa is as large as a walnut, that of the Cagicake is about the size of 
a coffee berry. The trunk is smooth, unarmed, and about eight inches in diameter, furnishing capital 
material for rafters, which the natives declare are so durable that they last for ever. The leaves are pinna- 
tifid, ten to twelve feet long, and the lowermost segments being narrower, and at least three or four times 
as long as the uppermost, hang down in long fringes, When in the dusk of the evening I first encountered 
this singular Palm on the Macuata coast of Vanua Levu, it was this peculiarity that attracted my at- 
tention, otherwise I should have taken it to be a Niu sawa. It was pitch-dark before the tree was felled 
and dragged out of the forest in which it grew, when passing my fingers over the surface of the segments. 
I felt a thick marginal and elevated vein, which at once assured me that an undoubtedly new addition had 
been made to my collection. The disproportionate length of the lower segments, and the thick marginal 
vein pointed out, though they bad been first discovered in the absence of regular daylight, are amongst 
the most striking peculiarities, and ought to be seized upon by those giving a popular description of this 
Palm ; the upper segments are four feet long and three inches broad. The spadix, like that of the Niu 
sawa, is much branched, and may be said to be a miniature imitation of it. The Palm is found both in - 
Vanua Levu and Ovalau, and doubtless also in Viti Levu, for a Palm which grows in the interior of the 
latter islands, and is termed about Namosi “ Tankua,” must, from the description given to me by natives, 
be identical with the Cagicake. According to the superstitious notion of the inland tribes of Viti Levu 
the diminutive fruit of the Tankua and those of the Boia, a plantain-like Scitamineous laut, form the chiei 
food of the Veli, spirits half fairy, half gnome, with a fair complexion and diminutive body. The Tankua 
is their cocoa-nut, the Boia their plantain, and the Yaqoyaqona (Piper Macgillivrayi, Cas. DC.), their kawa 
plant, none of which mortals can destroy or injure without exposing themselves to the danger of being 
severely punished by those dwellers in the forests, the Veli. : 
IV. Pritchardia, Seem. et Herm. Wendl. in Bonplandia, vol. ix. (1861) p. 260, et vol. x. 
(1862) pp. 197, 310. t. 15. Flores hermaphroditi, sessiles. Spathæ oo, cylindricze, subcompletze. 
* Perigonium exterius campanulatum, 3-denticulatum, interius 3-phyllum, phyllis basi truncato-cor- 
datis cum staminum cylindro connatis, deciduis, preefloratione valvata. Stamina 6, subsequalia ; fila- 
