Licuala. hexandria monogynia. 179 



Lieu ALA. Schreh. gen. n. 1691. 



Calyx three-toothed. Cord three cleft. Germ supe- 

 perior, three-lobed, three-celled. Cells one-seeded; attach- 

 ment inferior. Style single. Stamina simple. Drupe one- 

 celled, one-seeded. Embryo a little above the base on 

 the inside. 



] . L. peliata. R. 



Fronds palmate, orbicular, peltate. Stipes armed. 

 Drupe turbinate ; no nectary. 



This small prt/m is a native of the woody mountainous 

 parts near Chittagong, which separate that province from 

 the Burma dominions ; it was broui^ht from thence to the 

 Botanic Garden at Calcutta by Mr, William Roxburgh, 

 where it blossoms in November ami ripens its seed in 

 May. 



Trunk, in our young trees, short, and entirely em- 

 braced by the base of the petioles, and a web of coarse, 

 light brown fibres, down to the ground ; in that state 

 it is about as thick as a man's thigh. Leaves (fronds,) 

 alternate, long-petioled, orbicular, peltate, smooth, di- 

 vided to the base into from twenty to twenty-five 

 wedge-shaped, dentate-truncate, plaited portions ; the 

 superior two, or more, are much broader and longer, 

 being composed of from ten to fifteen ribs, while the la- 

 teral, and inferior ones are composed of from three to 

 five only ; the apices of these ribs taper off conically, and 

 have their points bifid, the breadth or length of the 

 whole leaf, for they are nearly the same size, from three 

 to four feet. Petioles or stipes spreading, three or 

 four feet long, nearly triangular, having the two lateral 

 edges armed with numerou.s, dreadful, strong, variously 

 curved, smooth, dark brown, sharp spines of different 

 sizes ; toward the base channelled, stem-clasping, and 

 firmly tied over each other, and round the tmnk, by a 



W 2 



