100 CXLVII. PALM.E ( WRIGHT). [PodoCOCCUS. 



1. P. Barteriy Mann d- Wendl.in Trans. Linn.Soc. xxiv. 426, t. 38, 

 fig. A, t. 40, Jig. B, and t. 43, Jig. A. An erect, unbranched palm, 

 covered with rusty scurf on all its parts. Stem 5-8 ft. high, 9 lin. in 

 diam., annulate, with innovations arising from the base; internodes 

 3-5 in. apart. Leaves 6-9, 5-6 ft. long, pinnatisect, glaucous green ; 

 sheath about a foot long, striate, splitting obliquely, lacerate at the 

 margins ; petiole 1-1 1- ft. long, subterete, channelled on the upper side 

 towards the base ; rhachis convex on the back, acute above ; leaflets 

 8-10 on each side, alternate, elliptic-oblong, 3-4 in. apart, plicate, 

 many-nerved, the longest 1 ft. by 4 in., the lower smaller, the two 

 terminal confluent, lower margins entire, upper irregularly eroso- 

 dentate. Spadix lateral, patent, at length pendulous, about 2 J ft. long ; 

 peduncle subterete, about as long as the rhachis ; rhachis 3 lin. thick ; 

 spathes 4 on the lower part of the peduncle, tubular, marcescent, the 

 two lower incomplete and 4-5 in. long, the upper more complete, 

 oblique, splitting irregularly and 8-12 in. long. Flowers produced from 

 June to August in 8-10 straight or spiral rows of pits, ternate, the 

 central female, the lateral male, reddish. Male flower : Sepals 3, dis- 

 tinct, elliptic-oblong, often trifid at the apex, keeled, subfalcate, scarcely 

 1 lin. long, contorted in bud. Corolla 2 lin. long ; lobes elliptic-oblong, 

 concave, cartilaginous, striate on the back, patent, valvate. Stamens 6, 

 alternately long and short ; filaments filiform, adnate at the base to the 

 corolla-tube and rudimentary 3-toothed ovary ; anthers oblong-cordate, 

 dorsifixed. Female flower : Sepals as in the male, but less rigid. Corolla 

 3-fid, united with the base of the ovary into a short stalk ; lobes oblong, 

 acute, concave, striate on the back, erecto-patent. Staminodes 6, minute. 

 Ovary 3- (or by abortion 1-) celled, stipitate, oblong ; stigmas 3, terminal, 

 short, recurved ; ovule pendulous. Fruit baccate, edible, oblong or 

 elongate-oblong, orange, bent above the base, with the scar of the 

 stigma subbasal, stipitate, nearly 1 in. by 4-5 lin. Seed elongate- 

 ellipsoid, slightly oblique, 9 lin. by 2 lin. — J. Braun & K. Schum, in 

 Mitth. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. ii. (1889) 148; Drude in Engl. Jahrb. xxi. 

 112. 



upper Guinea. Kiger Delta : mouth of the Brass River, Barter, 36 ! 325 ! 

 1837 ! Left bank of the River Xun, Mann, 452 ! 



Jto-vrer Guinea. Gaboon: Munda ; Sibange Farm, Soyaux,^'i\ 95. 



3. SCLEROSPERMA, Mann et Wendl. ; Benth. et Hook. f. 

 Gen. PL iii. 919. 



Male flower : Sepals 3. Corolla-lobes 3, valvate. Stamens many ; 

 filaments very short ; anthers linear, extrorse, basifixed. Female 

 flower : Calyx of 3 distinct sepals or 3-lobed. Corolla 3-lobed ; lobes 

 convolute below, valvate at the apex. Staminodes 6 or 9, very small. 

 Ovary unicarpellary, 1 -celled ; ovule pendulous ; stigma large, oblique. 

 Fruit a large drupe, obliquely depressed, stigmatic scar lateral ; epicarp 

 thin ; mesocarp fibrous ; endocarp thin but hard. Seed depressed 

 globose, surrounded by the branch.es of the raphe, which radiate from 



