PALMACEjE. 



on enlarging till they at length acquire the size of a small apple. But 

 few fruit come to maturity on each branch. Jack. — Some of the finest 

 Sago of Malacca is prepared from the soft cellular substance of the 

 trunk, before the fructification appears. It forms the principal part of 

 the food of the natives of the Poggy islands, off the west coast of 

 Sumatra. 



1230. Sagus farinifera Roxb. fl. ind. iii. 624, is also found to 

 yield Sago, but of very indifferent quality. 



1231. Saguerus Rumphii Roxb. fl. ind. iii. 626. (Arenga 

 saccharifera Labill. Anon. Marsden,) is said by Dr. Hamilton to 

 produce another of the finest kinds of Sago. 



CARYOTA. 



Leaves pinnated. Flowers monoecious. $ . Sepals 3, imbri- 

 cated. Petals 3, valvate. Stamens numerous, with the filaments 

 united into a very short cup. J . Sepals and petals each 3, con- 

 volute. Ovary 3-celled ; stigmas 3, sessile, depressed, connate. 

 Berry 2-celled, 2-se^ded. Seeds plano-convex. Albumen car- 

 tilaginous, ruminated. Embryo dorsal. 



1232. C. urens Linn. fl. zeylan. 369. Jacq. fragm. bot. 20. 

 t. 12. f. 1. Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 625. — (Rumph. i. 64. t. 14. 

 Rheede i. 15. t. 11.) — The East Indies. 



Trunk straight, often 60 feet high, thick in proportion, columnar, and 

 marked slightly with the annular cicatrices of the petioles. It grows 

 about as fast as the cocoa-nut tree, when in a soil and situation con- 

 genial to its nature. Leaves pinnate. Leaflets sub-alternate, sessile, 

 obliquely praemorse, the praemorse parts much jagged with sharp points. 

 Spathe many-leaved. Spadix pendulous, from 6 to 16 feet long, 

 branchy ; branches simple, from 4 to 8 feet long, pretty thickly covered 

 with innumerable sessile flowers, and these most regularly disposed in 

 threes ; 1 male on each side and a single female between them. Male 

 calyx 3-leaved, cupform ; leaflets unequal, concave, of a very firm 

 texture, permanent. Petals 3, much larger than the calyx, elliptic, 

 concave, of a firm leathery texture, green on the outside, whitish on 

 the inside. Filaments numerous, very short. Anthers linear. Female 

 flowers on the same spadix. Calyx and corolla as in the male. Stamens 

 and nectarial filaments 3, between the corolla and base of the germen, 

 each ending in a glandular enlarged apex. Ovary superior, 3-sided, 

 Style 0. Stigma small, 2-cleft. Berry roundish, 1-celled, of the size 

 of a nutmeg, covered with a thin, yellow, acrid bark, but nothing that 

 deserves the name of pulp. Seed or nut generally solitary. Roxb. — 

 The cellular part of the trunk yields Sago of the finest quality accord- 

 ing to Roxburgh ; palm wine is also obtained from the trunk in great 

 abundance. 



CALAMUS. 



Leaves pinnated. Flowers dioecious or hermaphrodite. $ Ca- 

 lyx 3-dentate, or trifid. Corolla 3-parted, or almost 3-petaled. 

 Stamens 6 ; filaments connate at base ; anthers sagittate. 



582 



