502 PALM^. 



Persoon has been commendably sparing 

 of new terms. Besides hymenium above 

 explained, he has scarcely introduced any 

 other than peridium, for the round mem- 

 branous dry case of the seeds in some of 

 the 1st section. The term pileus, a hat, 

 is used by all authors for the head of those 

 fungi that compose the 2d section. 



Appendix. Pabna. The natural order 

 of Palms was so little understood when Lin- 

 jiaeus formed his systematical arrangement of 

 plants, and so few of their flowers had been 

 scientifically examined, that he was under 

 the necessity of leaving this order as an ap- 

 pendix to his system, till it could be better 

 investigated. To its peculiar habit and phy- 

 siology we hcive adverted in several of the 

 foregoing pages, see p. 57 — 59, 62, 133, &c. 



Late observations show Palms to have for 

 the most part 6 stamens, rarely 3 or 9, with 

 3 or 6 petals, and 1 or 3 styles ; which last 

 are sometimes in the same flower with the 

 stamens, sometimes in a separate one, but 

 both flowers always agree in general struc- 

 ture. Their fruit is generally a dn/pa. They 



