6 AEECACEAE. 



Drupe with style or stigmas nearly " basal : stamens ex- 

 serted : endosperm not enclosing a milky juice. 

 Drupe violet-blue : branches of the spadix erect or as- 

 cending. 6. ROTSTOXEA. 

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

 Drupe with style or stigmas terminal : stamens included : 



endosperm hollow, enclosing a milky juice. 8. Cocos. 



1. THEINAX L. Unarmed trees. Leaves with flabellate blades pale or 

 silvery-scurfy beneath, and smooth petioles. Spadix relatively long. Stamens 

 mostly 6: filaments united at the base. Style concave or flat. Drupe ivory- 

 white. — Spr. — Thatch-palm. 



The wood of the Thatch-paljis is brown, hard without and soft within. 

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

 cate cup : filaments subulate : stigma oblique. 1. T. floridana. 

 Flowers on short disk-like pedicels : sepals and petals partially 

 united, acute : filaments 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. T. floridana Sarg. Slender tree, 9 m. tall. Leaf-blades 9-13 dm. broad, 

 yellowish-green and lustrous above: ligule 5-7 cm. broad: spadix about 10 dm. 

 long: pedicels about 3 mm. long: filaments subulate: drupe 8-12 mm. thick, or 

 rarely smaller. 



The Florida thatch-palm grows in hammocks and on sandy shores in the 

 lower portion of the western part of the peninsula, and on the upper and the lower 

 Florida Keys. (Bah., Cuba.) 



2. T. microcarpa Sarg. Stout tree 10 m. tall. Leaf -blades about 10 dm. broad, 

 pale-green above: ligule 2-2.5 cm. broad: spadix 3-6 dm. long: pedicels disk- 

 like: filaments triangular: drupe 3-4 mm. thick. 



The Brittle-thatch grows in hammocks and on sandy shores at the lower end 

 of peninsular Florida and on several of the lower Florida Keys. (Bah., Cuba.) 



3. T. keyensis Sarg. Eelatively stout tree 8 m. tall, the trunk raised on a 

 base of matted roots. Leaf -blades about 10 dm. broad, yellowish-green above: 

 ligule about 2.5 cm. wide: spadix nearly 20 dm. long: pedicels disk-like: drupe 

 5-6 mm. thick. 



The Key-thatch grows on sandy shores and in hammocks on a few of the lower 

 Florida Keys. (Bah.) 



2. COCCOTHRINAX Sarg. Unarmed shrubs or trees. Leaves with flab- 

 ellate blades silvery or pale-scurfy beneath, and smooth petioles. Spadix 

 relatively short. Stamens mostly 9: filaments distinct or nearly so. Style 

 funnelform. Drupe black or purple-black. — Silver thatch-palm. 



1. C. argentea (Lodd.) Sarg. Small tree or shrub. Leaf -blades 2-7 dm. broad, 

 the ligule 1-1.5 cm. broad: spadix 2-4 dm. long: mature pedicels 1-2 mm. 

 long: drupe 7-10 mm. thick. — Spr. 



The Silver-palm grows in pinelands, and rarely in hammocks, on the Everglade 

 Keys and Florida Keys. The wood is brown, hard without and soft within. (W. I.) 



3. SABAL Adaus. Unarmed shrubs, with horizontal or contorted root- 

 stocks, or trees. Leaves upright or spreading: blades flabellate, glabrous. 

 Spadix upright during anthesis, or spreading. Stamens equal or nearly so: 

 filaments narrow. Drupe globose, spheroidal or obovoid. — Palmetto. 



1. S. Palmetto (Walt.) E. & S. Trunk 28 m. tall. Leaf-blades cordate at the 

 base: ligules about 10 cm. long: spadix-branches loosely flowered: anthers obtuse 

 or notched : seeds spheroidal. — Spr. 



The Cabbage-palmetto grows in open sandy or rocky soil or in hammocks nearly 

 throughout peninsular Florida, along the western coast to the vicinity of the Apala- 

 chicolu river, and on the lower Keys. The wood is light-ln-own and soft, but harder 

 within than near the surface. Also known as Cabbage-palm or Cabbage-tree. 

 (Cont., Bah.) 



