THE PALMS OF liRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. .09 



B. Poljxarpic palms, flowering annually, 

 a. Leaflets acuminate, quite entire, ner- 

 ves parallel. . 



1. Stem elongate, spathes tubular, 



persistent G. Calamus. 



2. Stem elongate; spathes cymbiform 



or open, deciduous 7 . Baemonorhops. 



3. Stem short or absent ; spathes 



man)^, persistent 2. Zalacca. 



h. Leaflects rhomboid cuneate or oblan- 

 ceolate, toothed ; nerves fla- 

 bellate 3. Korthalsia. 



METROXYLON, Hottb., Nye Samml. Dansk. Selsk. Skrift. IT, 

 525, t. 1 (from the Greek " metra," the heart of a tree, and 

 " xylon," wood ; in allusion to the large proportion of pith contained 

 in the plant). 



Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. Ill, 213, 343, t. 102, 159.— Griff. Palm. 

 Brit. Ind. 21, t. 181, append. XX.— Becc. Males. I, 91.— Benth. k 

 Hook. Gen. PI. Ill, II, 935, 109. 



Stem erect, short, stoloniferous, in the lower part irregularly 

 annulate, in the upper closed with the bases of fallen leaves. 

 Leaves terminal, lai'ge, almost erect, pinnate ; segments linear- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, reduplicate, the edges and central vein often 

 setose ; petioles and sheaths often armed with long spines. 



Spadices large, lasting for several years, lateral, decompound- 

 distichously branched ; spathes tubulai-, coriaceous. Flo-svers poly- 

 gamous-monoecious on amentaceous branches. Calyx semi-trifid 

 or tri-dentate ; corolla tripartite. Male flowers : stamens 6, fila- 

 ments imited at the base with the corolla ; anthers dorsifixed, 

 subsagittate ; pistillode consisting of more or less distinct carpels. 

 Female flowers : incompleteljr trilocular ; ovules erect, anatropous ; 

 styles and stigmas forming a pyramid ; staminodes forming a 

 six- dentate urceolus, barren anthers small or absent. 



Berry with dry flesh, imbricate with retrorse scales, unilocular 

 and 1-seeded by abortion ; albumen deeply excavated or ruminate. 

 Embryo dorsal. Species about 7. — Indian floral region. 



Uses. — Metroxylon furnishes the best sago. In order to procure 

 it the trunk is split into logs a few feet long, their soft interior 

 extracted, pounded, and thrown into water ; the water is then 

 drained off from the pulpy mass, when the starch comes away with 

 it, and upon being allowed to settle is afterwards prepared and 

 purified by successive washings. A tree fifteen years of age will 

 yield from 600-800 pounds. The sago-meal^ as it is called, is the 

 form in which this starch is procured, although it is not commonly 

 imported to Europe in this state. The usiial form in which it is 

 brought to the market is called Pear Sago. We follow Bennet in 



