Areca.] cxlvii. palm^ (wrigiit). 99 



enlarging after flowering. Ovary entire, 8-ceUed ; ovule erecc, basal. 

 Albumen ruminate. — Unarmed palms. Stems solitary or Ciespitose, 

 annulate. Leaves in a terminal crown, equally piunaciseci. Spadix 

 infrafoliaceous ; branches patent, pendulous in fruit ; spaches 8 co many, 

 caducous. 



Species about 24, distributed through Tropical Asia, hew Guinea, anu Tropical 

 Australia. 



1. A. Cateeka, Lhm. Sp. PL ed. i. 1189. fcjoem cyiindrical, un- 

 branched, 40-50 ft. high, 20 in. in diam., annuiaue. Leaves 6-9 ; 

 petiole thick, concave above, convex beneath, sheaohing and coriaceous 

 at the base; ieahets many, opposite, broadly linear, acumiaace, broad 

 at the base, the lower 3-4 ft. long. Spadix 2-6 ft. long, mucn orancued, 

 male above, female below; spathes 2, boat-shaped, oocuse, senate, 

 coriaceous; bracts 0. Male flowers sessile. Sepals 8, ovaue, acute, 

 Petals 8, much longer than the sepals, broadly ovate, ticuce, yellowish. 

 Stamens 6 ; filaments short, more or less united into a column below ; 

 anthers dorsmxed. Female flowers sessile. Sepals 8, oroadly ov^ate, 

 fleshy, very thick in the centre, thin at the margins, concave, pexsistent. 

 Staininodes none or forming a hypogynous b-tootned ring. Ovary large, 

 ovoid, acute, smooth, 8-celled ; ovules solitary ; stigmas 8, triangular, 

 acute, papillose. Fruit ovoid, tapermg upwards, 2-2^ in. long, smooth, 

 orange when mature, 1 -celled ; pericarp at first soft, afterwards con- 

 taining many distinct longitudinal fibres. Seed conic-giooose, soiitax-y, 

 erect, 1 in. in diam. ; testa very thin ; endosperm very iiard, wnite or 

 pinkish; emoryo small, basal. — Mart. Palm. 169, tt. 102, 149, ng. i ; 

 Biume, Rumphia, ii. t. 102, fig. A ; Bentl. & Trim. Med. PI. t. 21 Q ; 

 Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. B. 15, C. 131 ; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. ind. vi. 406. 



9f£o£ai:a'o. X>igt. Zanzioar ana ccast of German East Africa, cuicivaitea, ^n 



'Eaglet. 



Also in India, South China, and Malaja. 



2. PODOCOCC ITS, Mann et Wendl. ; Bentn. et Hook. f. Gen. 



PI. iii. 915. 



Male flower : Sepals 8. Corolla stalked, 3-loDed. Stamens 6 ; fila- 

 ments subulate, adnate at the base to tne coroila-tuoe and to the 

 rudiment of the ovary ; antners oblong, coraate at tne base, dorsihxed. 

 Female flower: Sepals 3. Corolla stalked, trifid. Staminodes 6, vei-y 

 small. Ovary 8-celled ; stigmas 8, i-ecurved ; ovuie penauluus. Fruit 

 baccate 1- (rarely 2-8-) seeded, with the stigmatic scar near its uaise. 

 Seed surroucded by the branches of tne raphe, which raaiate irom the 

 hilum and anastomose towards their extremities ; aibumea numo- 

 ,^eneous ; embryo dorsal, at or below the middle of the albumen. — 

 Slender unarmed palm. Stems reed-like, annulate. Leaves alternate, 

 pinnate; leaflets membranous. Spadix simple, on a long peduncle; 

 spathes 4, tubular, marcescent ; bracts short ; bracteoles minute, 

 glumaceous. 



Endemic, monotypic. 



