PALMA/E. (PALM FAMILY.) 813 



on the hranches of « sjyadix, enclosed hefore floiverincj m a 

 s^athe^, and a ])evianth of fleshy divisions in tioo rows, 

 btaminate flmoers : stamens six, in two rows, rarely 3, fila- 

 ments free or connate at base. Pistillate flower's: ovary 

 free, carpels 3, either distinct or coalesced. Ovule 1 (rarely 

 2), erect, ortliotropons, or more or less anatropons. Styles 

 very short, as many as carpels or cells. Fruit a berry or 

 drupe, 3-lobed, S-celled, or by abortion 1-celled and 1-seeded, 

 sarcocarp fleshy or fibrous, endocarp parchment-like, fibrous 

 or woody. Seed filling the cell, the testa usually coalesced 

 with the endocarp. Albumen copious, cartilaginous or woody, 

 usually occupying the folds of the testa. Embryo various — 

 An immense tropical order, represented in our district by 

 two genera. 



1. PHCENIX. Tall, unbranclied trees, with pinnate leaves and edible fruits (dates). 



2. IIYPH^NE. Trees with forked branches, palmate leaves, and fruits like small cocoa- 



nuts, with fibrous sarcocarp enclosing a stone of woody texture. Albumen 

 of ivory hardness, hollow. 



1. PHOEXIX, L. Palm. NalcliL 



Flowers dioecious, on a much branched spadix, surrounded before; 

 opening by a simple spathe. Staminate flowers : calyx cup-shaped, ?>- 

 toothed, corolla with 3, valvate petals. Stamens G or ;>, anthers nearly 

 sessile. Pistillate floicers : calyx cup-shaped, 3-toothed. Corolla of 3, 

 imbricated petals. Ovaries 3, ovate-globular, distinct, stigmas sessile, 

 hooked. Fruit a date, 1-seeded, sarcocarp soft, edible, seed with a 

 longitudinal groove, horny albumen, and dorsal or subbasilar embryo. 



Ph. dactylifera, L. Date. Xalhl Z?a/^. 5 10 to 15 or more. 

 Leaves glaucescent, oblong-lanceolate in outline, 2-3 metres long, rachis 

 {jaricl), thick, semiterete, piun{:e lanceolate-linear, acuminate, folded 

 lengthwise. Branches of spadix long, flexuous; dates sessile, ovate to 

 elliptico-cylindrical — Spring — Common, especially southward. Culti- 

 vated in many varieties. 



2. HYPHiE^'E, Gaertu. Dou^i Palji. JDiim. 

 Flow^ers dioecious on a spadix with two ranked branches, each branch 

 imperfectly enclosed in a spathe, cylindrical, beset with densely im- 

 bricated, hairy scales. Flowers small, solitary in axils of scales, sub- 

 sessile, Stcwi incite flowers : calyx 3-parted. Corolla of 3 petals. Stamens 

 6, with free filaments. Anthers ovate, bifid at base, fixed by their 

 back. Pistillate flowers : calyx oi '] ficpsds. Corolla of 3 petals. Sta- 

 mens rudimentary. Ovary 3-2-celled, stigmas 3-3, sessile. Drupe, by 

 abortion simple, 1-celled, rarely 3-2-lobed, sarcocarp fibrous, stone, 

 woody. Albumen horny, hollow. Embryo at tip, vertical. 



II. Tliebaica, Del. Dum. Gingerbread Tree. 5 ■'^ ^^ I'^^i 

 trunk and branches forked, ringed. Leaves crowded at tips of branches, 

 palmate-fan-shaped, 1 broad, the divisions 20-25, linear-lanceolate, 

 connate to near tip, with pendulous threads at their angles; thc])etiolo 

 shorter than the limb, beset on cither side with hooked spines. Spadix 

 appearing among leaves, the branches resembling catkins, .1 to .I5 



