Arecn..\ I'AT.MJE. I:? I 



9. ARECA, Linn. 



Four to eight Indian species. A. triandra, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ill. 617 ; Kurz ii. 

 537. Vern. Bangua, ramgua, runi supari, Beng. ; Tau-lcwam-tliee, Burm. ; Abara- 

 dah, And., is a stoloniferous or simple-stemmed palrn, found in Chittagong, Burma 

 and the Andamans. A. gracilis, Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 619 ; Gamble 84 (Pinamja 

 gracilis, Kurz ii. 538). Vern. Gua supari, ramgua, Beng. ; Khur, Lepcliii ; Ra/Kja, 

 Ass., is a small slender-stemmed, often gregarious, palm of the undergrowth in dump 

 forests in Sikkim, Assam, Eastern Bengal and Burma ; it is used for native huts and 

 roofing in Assam. The outer portion is hard, with closely-packed fibre-vascular bun- 

 dles, the inner part is so soft that the cane shrinks iu drying (E 3425 Dalingkote, Br. 

 Bhutan.) A. hexasticha, Kurz in Journal, As. Soc. Beng. xliii. ii., p. 201, 

 For. Flora, British Burma, ii. 539, is a small palm of Burma, and A. costata, Bl. ; Kurz 

 ii. 538, a palm of the Andamans. Griffith describes sereral other species, such as A. 

 laxa, Buch., from the Andamans (placed by Kurz under A. triandra, see above); A. 

 nagensis, Griff. Vern. Tdl pat, Naga; Tougtaw, Singpho, of the Naga Hills; A. 

 Didcsoni, Roxb. FL Ind. iii. 617, of Malabar ; and A. disticha, Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 620, 

 from the Khasia Hills. 



1. A. Catechu, Linn. ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 615 ; Brandis 551 ; Kurz 

 ii. 536 j Gamble 84. The Areca Nut or Betel Palm. Vern. Supari, Hind. ; 

 Gua, Beng. ; Poka, oka, vaka y Tel. ; Camugu, paku, Tarn. ; Adike, Kan. ; 

 Adaka, cavugu, Hal.; Puwak, Cingh.j Kwam-thee-btng , Burm. ; Ah-bud- 

 daU, ah-pur-rud-dah, And. 



A tall tree, attaining 100 feet in height, with a slender, cylindrical, 

 annulate stem, the inner part of which is generally hollow. Vascular 

 bundles brown, forming a hard rind on the outside of the stem. 



Cultivated throughout Tropical India. 



A. Mendis gives the weight per cubic foot at 571bs. The wood is used for fur- 

 niture pins, bows, spear handles, and for scaffolding poles in Ceylon. The sheaths 

 of the leaves are used to wrap up articles and as paper to write upon ; the seeds are 

 used in turning for necklaces, the knobs of walking sticks, and other small articles, 

 on account of the reticulated appearance formed by the ruminate lines in the albumen 

 of the nut. These nuts are the well-known betel nut, so universally chewed by natives 

 of India, especially Bengal and Burma. For the production of the nut large groves 

 of betel palms are formed, and these groves form often an extremely handsome object 

 in tropical scenery. Most villages in Bengal, Burma and South India have their few 

 betel trees. 



Ibs. 



E 419. Sundarbans 



W 769. South Kanara . 



No. 73. Ceylon Collection 57 



10. ENTINCKIA CODDA PANNA, Berry; Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 621. Vern. Cod- 

 da panna, Tel., is a slender palm, about 20 feet high, found, in the Travaucore Hills. 



11. ARENGA, Lab. 



A. saccharifera, Labill. ; Brandis 550; Kurz ii. 533 (Saguerus Riimphii, 

 Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 626). Vern. Toung-ong, Burin., is a common .Malayan palm, very 

 commonly cultivated in India, and said by Kurz to be wild in the forests of Burma. 

 The heart of the stem contains large quantities of sago, and the cut llo\\vr stalks 

 yield a sugary sap, made into sugar and palm wine. The horst'-hair-like libre found 

 at the base of the petioles is similar in its uses to cocoa nut h'hre and is valuable 

 for cordage. The palm dies after ripening its whole crop of fruit, and the stems are 

 then useful for troughs and water-eluiimels, lasting well underground. Roxburgh 

 was so impressed with its general utility that he recommended its being largely culti- 

 vated in India. Griffith mentions another species, A. IViyhtii, from the hills about 

 Coimbatore. 



