PALMAE 123 
8, connate below. Stamens 6. Ovary 3-lobed,. 3-celled. Fruit globose, 
drupaceous. (Greek “summit,” in allusion to the inflorescence.) 
Species about 6 in tropical Asia and Malaya, 1 in the Philippines. 
1. C. elata Roxb. Buri, Buli (Tag., Vis.). 
Trunk erect, straight, up to 0.7 m in diameter and 20 m high. Leaves 
suborbicular, up to 3 m long, palmately split into about 100, lanceolate, 
acuminate, 1.5 to 6 cm wide segments extending one-half to two-thirds to 
the base; petioles very stout, about 3 m long, 20 cm thick at the base, 
margins armed with very stout black spines. Inflorescence pyramidal, up 
to 7 m in height, the lower branches up to 3.5 long, the upper ones gradually 
shorter, the ultimate branches up to 1 m in length. Flowers very nu- 
merous, greenish-white, 5 to 6 mm in diameter. Fruit globose, fleshy, 
2 to 2.5 ecm in diameter, the seed hard, globose, 1.5 ecm in diameter. 
Occasionally cultivated in Manila for ornamental purposes, our largest 
palm; widely distributed in the Philippines. India to Malaya. 
8. CARYOTA Linnaeus 
Medium or stout palms with axillary inflorescences and few, large, 
bipinnate leaves. Leaflets wedge-shaped to lanceolate, broad or narrow, 
apex very oblique, variously toothed or incised. Inflorescence medium or 
very large, the peduncles stout, decurved, the uppermost one developing 
first. Sheathes (spathes) 3 to 5, small or large. Spadices fastigiately 
branched, the branches pendulous. Flowers many, in threes, a female 
between two males. Male fiowers: Sepals 3, rounded. Petals 3, oblong, 
valvate. Stamens 6 to many. Female flowers: Sepals and petals rounded. 
Ovary 3-celled. Fruit small, globose, 1- or 2-seeded. (An ancient Greek 
name for a kind of date.) 
Species about 12, tropical Asia, through Malaya to Australia, 4 or 5 in 
the Philippines. 
Stamens 6, the flowers small; inflorescence less than 1 m long; leaves less 
beret reg ees Sess, ek lt ceri See al Said 1. C. cumingii 
Stamens about 40, the flowers rather large; inflorescence up to 2 m long; 
leaves Opi toe) Wyong...) e246 ee ee a eee 2. C. maxima 
1. Caryota cumingii Lodd. Pugahan, Taquipan (Tag.). 
A rather slender palm reaching a height of 5 m. Leaves scattered 
along the upper part of the trunk, spreading, up to 1.5 m long; petiole 
very short; pinnae about 10 on each side of the midrib, up to 1 m long; 
leaflets numerous, up to 20 em long, broad, flabelliform, 2 sides straight, 
the apex obliquely truncate; irregularly and prominently toothed, obliquely 
acuminate. Inflorescence axillary, pendulous, up to 80 cm long, the 
peduncle about 3 cm in diameter, the spathes small, not exceeding 20 cm 
in length. Spikes numerous, furfuraceous, slender, up to 50 cm long. Male 
flowers dull-purplish and yellow, the petals about 5 mm long. Stamens 
6. Fruit globose, purple, fleshy, containing a single globose seed. 
Occasionally cultivated, fl. continuously, from the upper axils first, until 
exhausted; widely distributed in the Philippines. Endemic. 
2. C. maxima Blume. Pugahan, Taguipan (Tag.). 
Trunk stout, cylindric. Leaves large, bipinnate, up to 3.5 m long, 
the petioles sheathing, their margins with stout black fibers; pinnae up 
to 20 on each side of the midrib, the lower and middle ones up to 1.5 
m long, shorter upward; leaflets numerous, 20 to 45 em long, flabellate 
