295 ■ 



Betkl Nut. 

 Areca Catkciiu, J.., the Betel Nut Palm (see aceompanyint;- plate). 

 General Description — 



A palm which grows to a good height attaining in some cases 

 60 ft. Its stem i-s straight and cylindric, and ringed by the scars 

 of fallen leaves. It is greyish in colour and is generally covered 

 with lichens. The stem is \ery slender in comparison with its 

 height hut very strong nevertheless. The crown of leaves is rather 

 small having a diameter of about S ft. The leaves are pinnate 

 which places it in the feather-leaved section of Palms. They vary 

 in length from i to 6 ft. and in the young state have a fairl.y 

 straight leaf rhaehis which forms an acute angle with the stem, but 

 in older leaves the leaf-rhachis is curved. The colour of the foliage 

 is yellowish green in plants growm in the sun and light green in 

 plants growing in partial shade. The leaflets are more or less 

 rigid giving the leaf a flat surface. Spathes are produced below 

 the leaves and soon burst disclosing the much branched spadix 

 which is pendulous and on the l)ranches of which are produced the 

 flowers. As the Palm is unisexual the female flowers are borne at 

 the base of the branches while the male flowers are borne on spikes 

 at the extremities of the branches and are arranged in two rows on 

 the spike. In the plate facing p. 296 the two types of flowers 

 can be easily distinguished the large unopened ones at the bases 

 being the female and the tiny white crowded specks being the open 

 male flowers. On the same plate will be seen a fine bunch of fruits 

 which when they first appear are small and green. I'hey very soon 

 swell up and change colour l)ecoming orange or orange scarlet 

 when quite ripe and are from 1 to 2 inches in length when fully 

 grown. The fruit consists of a fleshy pericar]) surrounding the 

 seed or betel nut. A fuller description of this palm will l)e found 

 in the Gardens' Bulletin Vol. II, p. 252. 



History. 



Mention has been made of the " betel nut " for centuries, the 

 earliest reference to it by a European being found in the writings of 

 Marco Pole (1298 A.D.). 'Since that date the nut has been men- 

 tioned by many writers. Of its great antiquity there can be no 

 doubt as mention of it has been found in manuscripts written in 

 ancient Eastern languages. The nut has its place in the ceremonial 

 and symljolic life of the people lieing offered as a polite indication 

 of the termination of ceremonial visits. It is also symbolic of 

 festivity and essential at the betrothal ceremony. It has held the 

 same important position from earliest times. 



Habitat. 



The exact locality in which this plant first grew is unknoAvn 

 as it has been found for centuries, cultivated over almost the whole 

 of tropical Asia. It prefers a moist atmosphere as is shown in 

 India where it is found growing only in localities which are notably 



