THE MONOCOTYLEDONES 



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IV. Ceroxyloideae 



Spadix simple or branched. Flowers diclinous and usually dimorphic. 

 When dioecious they are solitary with rudimentary bracts, when monoecious 

 usually in cymes of three flowers, two being male and one female. Carpels 

 three in number. Fruit smooth. Leaves pinnate. 



I. Areceae. The fruit always a berry. 



Included in this tribe are a large number of genera of which the more 

 important are: Caryota, Arenga, Areca, Oreodoxa, Ceroxylon, Euterpe and 

 Iriartea. 



The genus Caryota contains ten Indo-Malayan species with columnar 

 stems. The best known is C. mens (Fig. 1993), the Toddy Palm, which is 

 extensively cultivated. It yields palm sugar, sago and Ketul fibre. Fifteen 

 species of Arenga occur mainly in Malaya and are similar in appear- 

 ance to Caryota. A. saccharifera, the Gomuti Palm, is cultivated for 

 its sugar which is obtained by wounding the young inflorescence and 

 evaporating the sap collected. A variety of sago can be obtained from the 

 pith by washing. White fibre can be made from the leaf sheaths. The genus 



Fig. 1994. — Oreodoxa oleracea. Cabbage Palm or sometimes Royal Palm. 

 Differs from the true Royal Palm (O. le'sia) in having no swelling in 

 the trunk. Rio de Janeiro. Photograph by " E.N..^." 



