AKECACEAE 221 



119. Carex Bickn611il Britton. Stems and scapes 5-10 dm. high, the latter rough 

 above, much surpassing the leaves : leaves mostly nearly basal ; blades 3-5 mm. wide : 

 bracts usually very short: spikes 3-7, ovoid, subglobose, or somewhat obovoid, 8-12 mm. 

 long, silvery green or becoming yellowish : perigynia very broadly ovate, thin, several - 

 nerved on the outer face, 4-6 mm. long, the broad membranous wing 1 mm. wide, the 

 rough 2-toothed beak \-% as long as the body : achenes stipitate. 



In dry soil, New York to Minnesota, the Indian Territory and Kansas. Summer. 



Order6. ARECALES. 



Shrubs or trees, with erect or horizontal stems (caudices), growing by a single 

 terminal bud. Leaves at the end of the stem : petioles with imbricated bases : 

 blades plaited in the bud, fan-shaped or pinnate. Flowers perfect or polyga- 

 mous, disposed on more or less compound axillary spadices. Perianth in 2 series, 

 persistent. Calyx of 3 united or nearly distinct sepals. Corolla of 3 partially 

 united or distinct petals. Androecium of mostly 6, or sometimes 9-12 stamens. 

 Filaments dilated at the base and partially united. Anthers introrse. Gynoe- 

 cium of 3 more or less united or distinct carpels. Ovules solitary in each carpel, 

 erect, orthotropous or anatropous. Fruit usually a drupe, developed from 1 car- 

 pel, or sometimes a berry. Seeds often hollow. Endosperm horny or cartila- 

 ginous, rarely channelled, with the embryo near its surface. 



FAMILY 1. ARECACEAE Reichenb. PALM FAMILY. 



Characters of the order. [Palmae.] 



Leaf- blades fan-shaped. 



Calyx and corolla united into a 6-lobed or truncate cup, or obsolete. 



Endosperm even : drupe with white flesh. 1. THRINAX. 



Endosperm channeled : drupe with black flesh. 2. COCCOTHRINAX. 



Calyx and corolla distinct and manifestly in 2 series. 



Style or stigma basal on the drupe. 3. SABAL. 



Style or stigma terminating the drupe. 



Lobes of the corolla, or petals, valvate : flowers perfect : carpels free : 



stigmas sessile. 4. SERENOA. 



Lobes of the corolla, or petals, imbricated : flowers mostly polygamo- 



dioecious : carpels free only at the base : style slender. 5. RHAPIDOPHYLLUM. 



Leaf-blades pinnate. 



Drupe with style or stigmas nearly basal : stamens exserted : endosperm not 



enclosing a milky juice. 



Drupe violet-blue : branches of the spadix erect or ascending. 6. ROYSTONEA. 



Drupe orange-scarlet : branches of the spadix spreading. 7. PSEUDOPHOENIX. 



Drupe with style or stigmas terminal : stamens included : endosperm hollow, 



enclosing a milky juice. 8. Cocos.* 



1. THRINAX L. 



Unarmed trees, with solitary or tufted, often elongated stems. Leaf-blades orbicular 

 or sometimes truncate at the base, many-cleft, the segments 2-cleft : rachis short or want- 

 ing : ligule free, erect, concave : petioles with smooth edges. Spadix elongated, clothed 

 with tube-like sheaths, paniculately branched. Flowers perfect. Calyx arid corolla united 

 into a lobed or truncate cup, not accrescent. Stamens mostly 6 : filaments united at the 

 base. Ovary 1-celled : style columnar : stigma concave or flat. Drupe globose, with a 

 thin white flesh. Seed free, erect. Endosperm horny, even. Embryo lateral. The 

 plants flower in the spring, and mature their fruit about six months later. 



Flowers slender-pedicelled : sepals and petals united into an obscurely lobed or 



truncate cup : filaments subulate : stigma oblique. 1. T. Floridana. 



Flowers on short disk- like pedicels : sepals and petals partially united, acute : fila- 

 ments nearly triangular: stigma not oblique. 

 Trunk without a basal enlargement : spadix 3-6 dm. long : drupe 3-4 mm. in 



diameter. 2. T. microcarpa. 



Trunk with a basal enlargement : spadix nearly 2 m. long : drupe 5-6 mm. in 



diameter. 3. T. Keyensis. 



1. Thrinax Floridana Sarg. A slender tree, with a slightly tapering trunk becom- 

 ing about 9 m. tall, usually less than 15 .cm in diameter and partially clothed with the 

 persistent leaf-bases. Leaves ample ; blades rather longer than broad, about 9-13 dm. in 



