62 



PALM TREES 



Genus Geonoma, Willdenow. 



Male and female flowers on distinct trees, or rarely 

 on distinct spadices of the same tree. Spathe small, 

 incomplete. Male flowers with six stamens and a 

 rudimentary pistil. Female flowers with three stigmas 

 and a six-toothed ring of abortive stamens. 



These are small palms with slender, smooth, ringed, 

 reed-like stems. The leaves are large, regularly or 

 irregularly pinnate, with the leaflets broad, and the 

 bases of the petioles sheathing. The spadices are 

 slender and more or less branched, and the spathes are 

 double but small and membranous. The fruits are 

 small, round or ovate, and are not eatable. 



There are thirty-three species of this genus known, 

 all of small size, and inhabiting various parts of South 

 America and Mexico, from the level of the sea to 2000 

 feet above it. Many species may be seen flourishing in 

 the Palm House at Kew. 



