Liberia ^•- 



sules ; Kakatown, JJ7q'/cI; Grand Basa, Fc^v't'A 40 ! ; Sino Basin, 

 fF/y//^!: Cape Fa\m'd^, Ausc// 1 

 A. ovato-oblongum, Ihui/iv. : a trailing hcib with very slender loose 

 panicles of very small lilac or white flowers and shim'ng cap- 

 sules ; Cape Palmas, A)iscl/\ 



RAPATACK.^^: 



*Maschalocephalus dinklagei, /V/i,'". and A'. Schiim. : a perennial herb 

 with basal tufts of long firm cnsiform leaves (including the 

 sheaths to 20 in. high by over i in. J with sessile axillary heads 

 of yellowish white tubular very slender flowers (tube \\ in. 

 lobes \ in. long) and small triangled capsules ; in marshy 

 very shady places in primary forest near Fishtown, DinklagCy 

 2088! 



palm.p: 



Phoenix reclinata, Jacq. : stem 3—4 ft. high, leaves 3 — 5 ft. long 

 with 50 or more rigid lanceolate pungent pinnae (i ft. long 

 by I in.) ; female inflorescences peduncled, branched, about 2 

 ft. long, fruits resembling a small date ; Monrovia and Cape 

 Palmas, according to Vogel. — Sometimes called "wild date." 



Calamus barteri, Be'//, ex Dnidc : a tall climber with very slender 

 stems and leaves having lanceolate oblong pinna? (up to 8 in. 

 by f in.), armed with very fine pungent spines on the rachis, 

 the margins and primary nerves ; Kakatown, Whyte ! — The 

 rattan palm. 



Raphia vinifera, Bcauv. : a palm with a middle-sized stem bearing 

 an elegant tuft of pinnatisect leaves, 6 — 8 ft. long ; pinna? 

 spinulous ; fruits oblong-ellipsoid, about 3 in. long, covered with 

 smooth hard scales in 8—9 rows. — The stems of this palm, 

 which is known as "bamboo palm" to British colonists, are used 

 for building, the leaves for thatching, the bast for fibre, and the 

 sap of the trunk for making a sort of wine. This is the 

 " piassava " palm of the Americo-Liberians and produces the 

 fibre known by that name ; in the coast region. Sir H. H. 

 Jo/uistoii ! 



Borassus flabellifer var. sethiopum, ]Varb. {syii. B. cTthiopum, Mart.): a 

 palm, 60 — 80 ft. high, with a straight stem thickening more or 

 less from the middle upwards, flabellate leaves, 5 — 12 ft. long 

 and divided almost to the middle into ensiform segments, and 



660 



