Dr Balfour's Description of Rare Plants. 379 



lower portion, where the surface presents a wriniled and spongy 

 aspect. Fronds numerous, forming a large hemispherical coma, 

 some of them spreading, others nearly erect ; their base sur- 

 rounded with a brown fibrous reticulum or mattulla, consisting of 

 a coriaceous membrane and interlacing fibres, which arise laterally 

 from the base of the petiole. Petioles about 8 feet long, flat above 

 or slightly concave towards the margin, convex and keeled below, 

 becoming broad at their base where they join the stem, and giving 

 off a fibrous membrane at their sides ; compressed where they join 

 the lamina, and forming there a projecting pointed sort of ligule 

 on their upper surface. Margin of the petioles acute, covered to 

 about i or -J its length from the base with straight compressed 

 subulate horny roughish spines, pointing downwards, varying from 

 3 lines to 1 inch in length, and placed at the distance of i to | of 

 an inch from each other. Lamina or blade of frond, suborbi- 

 cular, flabelliform or fan-shaped, its extreme breadth 7 feet, with 

 from 80 to 90 rays ; lacinise linear-lanceolate, acuminate, united 

 by commissural ribs ; length of lacinife varying from 2 feet to 5 

 feet, their apices bifid, and the segments acute, brownish, 6 inches 

 long. Flowers on axillary spadices, three of which have been 

 produced by tha plant. Whole Inflorescence from 4 to 4-?, feet 

 long, spreading in the form of a brandling panicle. 

 General Rachis or peduncle flexuous, somewhat flattened at the 

 base, where it is between 1 and 2 inches in diameter, giving origin 

 to primary branches (about 1 inch in diameter at their base), 

 which are alternate, and divide into numerous secondary and ter- 

 tiary peduncles. All the peduncles are alternate and tapering, 

 and the ultimate divisions bear about 40 flowers. On an entire 

 spadix about 10,000 flowers were counted. The spadix, when 

 fresh, gives out an odour like cauliflower, and when a sec- 

 tion is made it becomes speedily brown by exposure to the air. 

 On examination under the microscope, the spadix presents spiral 

 and annular vessels, along with fusiform woody tubes. Basilar 

 sheaths or spathcs two, about 20 inches long, green at their lower 

 part, brown above, bifid at the apex, the segments being trian- 

 gular, acute, of a coriaceous woody texture, furrowed in the middle 

 and keeled towards the margin on the upjier side, smooth in tlie 

 inside, and covered on the outside with greyish tomentum and 

 scales, which consist of elongated cells placed end to end. Partial 

 spathis three, giving off from their axil three primary branches, 

 to which they are united at the base, about 1 foot long, green 

 at their lower part, brown at the apex, lanceolate, flattish, hol- 

 lowed in the part next the racliis, keeled near the margin, 

 slightly swollen below tlie cleft whence the peduncles proceed, 

 covered, like the basilar spathcs, but more sparingly, witli tomeu- 



