274 FLORA VITIENSIS. 
mentis in tubum brevem connatis, antice liberis lanceolatisque; antheris oblongo-lanceolatis dorso 
affixis. Ovarium 3-loculare, ovulis basi affixis. Styli apicales, uniti. Drupa bacczeformis, 1-cocca, 
endocarpio tenui. Albumen zquabile, per chalazam et raphem in latere ventrali lzevissime impressum. 
Embryo dorsale, paululum supra basim positum.— Arbores erectze, inermes, frondibus flabelliformibus, 
palmatisectis, petiolis inermibus ; spadicibus lateralibus, longe peduneulatis, paniculato-duplicato- vel 
triplicato-ramosis. 
This genus has been named in honour of William T. Pritchard, Esq., F.R.G.S., (author of * Polynesian 
Reminiscences,) who during the time of my visit was H.B.M. Consul in Viti, and to whom, more than to 
any one else, I am mainly indebted for the opportunities enjoyed for exploring the group and collecting 
materials for the present ‘ Flora.’ Three species of it are at present known, for besides that enumerated 
below, there are in tropical Polynesia two others, viz. P. Martit, Herm. Wendl. in Bonpl. l. c. (Livistona (?) 
Martii, Gaud. Bonite, t. 58 et 59), and P. Gaudichaudii, Herm. Wendl. in Bonpl. l. e. (Livistona (?) Gau- 
dichawtii, Mart.), both natives of the Hawaiian Islands. 
l. P. pacifica, Seem. et Herm. Wendl. l.c. (Tab. LXXIX.) ; frondium segmentis circ. 90; 
baccis maguitudine fructus Pruni spinose.— Seem. in ‘Correspondence relating to the Fiji Islands,’ 
(Parliamentary Papers), p. 70, et in Bonpl. vol. x. p. 153, et 310, t. 15. Corypha umbraculifera, 
Forst. Plant. Escul. p. 49, et Prodr. p. 88 ex parte, non Linn.—Nomina vernac. Vitiensia, “ Viu," 
“ Sakiki? v. * Niu Masei ;" Tonguense, teste Forster et Cook, ** Biu.””—Vanua Levu and Viti Levu 
(Seemann! n. 659). Also collected in the Tongan (U. S. Expl. Exped.!) and Samoan Islands 
(U. S. Expl. Exped.!). Cultivated in European and Australian gardens, where it was first introduced 
by me. 
The Palm seldom attains more than thirty feet in height. Its trunk is smooth, straight, and unarmed, 
and at the base from ten to twelve inches in diameter. The erown has a globular shape, and is composed 
of about twenty leaves, the petioles of whieh are unarmed, three feet four inches long, and densely 
covered at the base with a mass of brown fibres. "The blade of the leaf is rounded at the base, fan-shaped, 
four feet seven inches long, three feet three inches broad, and when young, as is the petiole, densely covered 
with whitish-brown down, which, however, as the leaf advances in age, gradually disappears. From the axils of 
the leaves issue flowers, enveloped in several very fibrous flaccid spathes, which rapidly decay, and have 
quite a ragged appearauce even before the flowers open. The inflorescence never breaks out below 
the crown, as it does in the Niu sawa (Veitchia Joannis, Wendl.). The spadix is three feet long, stiff 
and very straight, bearing numerous minute hermaphrodite flowers, of a brownish-yellow colour. The fruit 
is perfectly round, about half an inch in diameter; and, when quite matured, it has exactly the colour of a 
black-heart eherry, the mesocarp having a slight astringent taste. The seeds germinate freely, and out of a 
handful thrown carelessly into a Wardian case in Fiji, more than thirty had begun to sprout when they 
reached New South Wales, where they were taken care of in the Botanie Gardens, and duly distributed 
amongst the various establishments forming collections of rare and beautiful Palms—for such this species 
certainly is. The leaves are made into fans, * Iri masei” or “ai Viu," which are only allowed to be used 
by the chiefs, as those of the Talipot (Corypha wmbraculifera, Linn.) formerly were in Ceylon. The 
common people have to eontent themselves with fans made of Pandanus caricosus. Hence, though there is 
not a village of importance without the Sakiki, or, as it is termed in the Somosomo dialect which sup- 
presses the letter Æ, Saii, there are never more than one or two solitary specimens to be met ‘with in any 
place, the demand for the leaves being so limited, that they prove sufficient for the supply. The fans are 
from two to three feet across, and have a border made of a flexible wood. They serve as a protection both 
from the sun and rain; during a shower of rain the fan is laid almost horizontally on the head, the water 
being allowed to run down behind the back of the bearer. From this the Fijian language has borrowed 
its name for umbrella, a contrivance introduced by Europeans, terming it “ai viu," that being one of the 
names by which fans are known. The leaves are never employed as thatch, though their texture would 
seem to recommend them for that purpose; the trunk, however, is occasionally used for ridge-beams. 
Though there are, at the British Museum, no specimens or drawings of the plant which Forster (Pl. 
Escul. p. 49, n. 17) describes as Corypha umbraculifera, there can be little doubt that it is Pritchardia 
pacifica, which in Vitiis called “ Viu," and by the Tonguese, who have no v in their language, “ Biu.” 
Forster's words are :—“ Hujus folium semel vidi in Waitahu, sive Christine insula Archipelagi Mar-, 
chionis Mendoze; Palmam ipsam deinde, sed minus frequentem in Tongatabu, Amicorum insula reperit 
Cookius (vide Itiu.. Nov. vol. i. p. 332) incolis * Biu’ dictam, qui nuces ejus globosas parvulas intus edules 
habent.” t 
