Smithsonian Report, 1954. — Smith 



Plate 6 



1. Metroxylon vitiense, the endemic Fijian sago palm, grows very locally in swamps. It 

 lives about 25 }'ears, produces a large terminal inflorescence, and then dies. Fijians 

 esteem its fronds as the best thatching material in the archipelago. 



2. The leaf segments of Metroxylon :'in, ,i ■ n.i n Ironi the leaves, bent around a rceJ, 

 and sewed together with hibiscus fiber. ■"Sliiaglcs" about six feet long are dried in the 

 sun and then tied to the rafters of the roof. Such thatching is said to be durable for 20 

 years or more. 



