Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula. 155 



Sugar and molasses is obtained from the flower shoots, by slicing the 

 end off and catching the sweet sap in bamboos, and boiling it down ; 

 this sugar being known as " Gula Malaka." The inner portion of the 

 trunk is pithy and very sweet tasted. The fruits are made into a 

 sweetmeat. 



2. Westerhouti, Griff. Calc. Joura. Nat, Hist. V. 474. Palms 

 of British India 166, t. 235, B. C. D. Stems solitary or soboliferous 

 16 to 30 feet tall, 6 to 8 inches through, rings prominent 6 inches apart, 

 internodes bare smooth and grey. Leaves 16 to 18 feet long, rachis as 

 thick as a man's wrist, leaflets linear apex truncate and notched with 

 short teeth, base auricled dark green above glaucous beneath, about 

 80-90 pairs ; 24 to 60 inches long, 1-24- inch wide. Male inflorescence 

 18 inches long with 16-18 branches 8-9 inches long. Flowers nearly 



1 inch long. Sepals short broad gibbous orbicular i inch long. Petals 

 ovate oblong ^ inch long pink. Stamens very numerous 4 inch long 

 filaments very short and broad. Anthers linear terminated by a subu- 

 late brown point. Female, sepals short rounded, petals triangular ovate 



2 inch long. Stigmas small triangular. Fruit oblong depressed at the 

 top 2 inches long, 2^ inches through, yellowish green and black. Seeds 

 2-3 flattened oblong black i inch through. A. obtusifolia Hook. fil. Fl. 

 Brit. Ind. V. 421, (not of Martius). Saquerus Langkab Bl. Eumph. II. 

 131 t. 96, 125. 



Malacca : Naning (Westerhout) ; Negri Sembilan : Tampin Pahang, 

 Kwala Tahan (Ridley) ; Penang Hill (Lewis, Curtis) ; Province Wel- 

 lesley common on the hills, Bukit Langkap ; Perak : Bukit Kapayung ; 

 Thaiping Hills. 



In dry wooded hills often very abundant. Native name " Lang- 

 kap." The pith is eaten in curries by Malays. Endemic. 



10. DlDYMOSPERMA, Wendl. 



Dwarf palms unarmed. Stems solitary or tuftod. Leaves cuneate 

 oblong acute entire or pinnatisect with trapezoid leaflets. Inflorescence 

 simple ov branched with numerous persistent spathe unisexual. Flow- 

 ors rather large. Males, calyx cupular 3-fid. Petals oblong. Stamens 

 10-30. Anthers linear, no pistillode. Females sepals rounded. Petals 

 triangular thick. Ovary depressed 3 angled 2-3 celled. Stigmas coni- 

 cal. Fruit globose or ovoid 1-3 celled. Seeds 1 to 2 oblong elliptic 

 planoconvex. Albumen, equable. 



Species 6. Assam and Malaya. 



D. Hookeriana, Becc. Males. III. 186. Stem solitary or several 

 together about 12 to 13 inches tall, i inch through covered with old 

 leaf-sheaths with many black fibres. Leaves very variable simple 

 trapezoid cuneate or oblong with a narrow base erose with a toothed 

 margin and several point 7 to 9 inches long 3-4 inches wide petiole 4 

 to 6 inches long or pinnatisect with 2-4 pairs of leaflets inequilateral 



