400 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 13, No. 18 
use of the palm would have been forgotten among the Haitians, 
but no knowledge or tradition of wine-making was detected after 
numerous inquiries. 
HABITS OF PSEUDOPHOENIX INSIGNIS 
Instead of being confused with Aerza or Gaussia, the habit and 
appearance of the Haitian Psewdophoenix would cause it to be mis- 
taken for a corozo palm (Acrocomia) or a royal palm (Roystonea), 
and this may account for its being so long overlooked. Roystonea is 
the most common palm in adjacent cultivated districts. Acrocomia 
is found in small numbers in the valley between Ennery and St. 
Michel, but neither of these palms was seen on the dry wind-swept 
slopes where the Pseudophoenix thrives. Hardiness is suggested by 
the adaptations against drought, already mentioned, and by a notable 
persistence of the flowers and spathes, which not only remain in 
place, but are still alive when the fruit ripens. Thus the Haitian 
palm may prove adapted to cultivation in Florida beyond the range 
of the royal palm, and possibly also in California, where the royal 
palm is not known. Seeds have been planted so that a test of the 
behavior of the new species in the United States is in prospect. It 
is remarkable that so large a palm growing abundantly in sight of 
the most commonly traveled roads should have been overlooked by 
botanical visitors to Haiti, and also that there should be no planted 
specimens of the palm in Port-au-Prince or in other towns, though 
several imported palms are grown ornamentally. 
Pseudophoenix insignis Cook, sp. nov. 
Trunk attaining a height of 10 meters or more, solitary, erect, distinctly 
bulging or bottle-shaped, narrowed above the base and then gradually 
thicker, but narrowed again and much more abruptly at a height of 7 or 8 
meters; diameter at the roots about 50 cm., at 1 meter above 22 em., at 7 
meters 45 cm., at 8 meters 28 cm., at 8.5 to 10 meters 17 to18 cm. Internodes 
of trunk attaining 14 em. in length near the base, in the bulging portion 5 to 8 
cm. and near the top reduced to 1 cm. or less, the lower leaf-scars 1.5 to 2 em. 
long, the upper reduced to 0.5 em., distinctly pitted; the internodes with 
smooth surfaces at first, then becoming longitudinally rimose, with a very 
hard brittle outer shell 3 mm. thick, gray on the surface, black inside. 
Roots 0.7 cm. in diameter, forming a solid black mass at the surface of the 
ground, breaking away the outer shell of the trunk as in the coconut and 
other large palms. 
Leaf-sheaths 45 em. long by 15 to 20 em., the greater diameter of the trunk 
attained by secondary thickening; surface whitish or grayish green, with a 
thick coating of wax; petiole 25 em. long, about 12 em. wide at base, 6 em. 
wide at apex, flat above, distinctly convex below i in the middle, slightly con- 
cave toward the margins. 
