the small embiyo half-way along the seed, and the endosperm horny with thick 

 cellulose walls. Cult, in vars. and propagated by suckers. 



P. sylvestris of India, on low ground and along river-banks, gregarious and 

 cult., tapped; 40 ft., similar in habit, leaves 7-15 ft., fruit i in. 



P. acaidis common in forests of Sal, Chir, and Eng. Stem an ovoid tuber. 



Chamaerops humilis, a bushy form, 20 ft., with palmate leaves, stout stem 

 and tufted growth ; the gynoecium of 3 carpels slightly cohering below, each with 

 stigma, only one set seed. As great monocarpic type cf. : — - 



Corypha umbraculifera, Talipot Palm, Ceylon and S. India, cult., to So ft., 

 and 2^ fi. diam. annulate, gro\\ing 17-40 years, leaves 8-16 ft. diam., palmate, cut 

 in 80-100 segment?, 6 in. wide, and halfway down. Terminal panicle 10-20 ft., 

 pyramidal ; flowers hermaphrodite, ovary 3-lobed, 3-locular ; Fruit of i carpel-lobe, 

 i-i in. diam., drupaceous, globose; seed 18 mm., with small embryo in horny 

 uniform endosperm with thick cellulose walls; output i ton of seeds. 



C. Talnra, representative sp. in Bengal, leaves cut less than half-way down. 



Borassus flabellifer, Palmyra Palm of Trop. Africa, cult., to 100 ft. and 2 ft. 

 diam., annulate ; leaves on long stalks, palmate, 3-5 ft. diam., cut in 60-80 segments. 

 Dioecious, inflorescence of massive ramuli (spadices) with close-set bract-scales and 

 the staminate flowers in small cymose clusters, immersed under scales and emerging 

 one at a lime to function: carpellary flowers large (i in.) immersed, the stigmas 

 alone protruding, ovary with separate loculi. Fruit a massive fibrous drupe, 

 6 in. diam., with 3 large pyrenae in sarcocarp-pulp ; seed incompletely filled with 

 horny endosperm. 



Lodoieea Seychellarum, Double Coconut, monotype of Seychelles Is., to 

 120 ft., palmate leaves, socket-base, dioecious: staminate spadix, 3 ft., flowering 

 continuously for several years : carjjellary flower 3-4 in. diam. ; Fruit a fibrous drupe, 

 full size in 4 years, mature in 7-10, seed i-| ft. long; fruit 40 lb. weight, in clusters 

 of 4-1 1 : endosperm A in. deep, solid. 



Cocos nucifera, Coconut, Polynesia, cult. ; Stem smooth, annulate, to 80 ft., 

 leaves pinnate, 6-12 ft., leaflets 2-3 ft., monoecious, with stout spadix (4-6 ft.) with 

 drooping branches; staminate flowers numerous in upper branches, 10 mm., 3 outer 

 per. seg. large and coriaceous, stamens 34-3: carpellary flowers few, at base of 

 spadix-branches, i in., with massive perianth-segs. and ovary syncarpous, 3-locular. 

 Fruit a large 3-angled fibrous drupe (i ft.): sclerocarp with 3 basal pores to ovary- 

 loculi, ' eyes ', one non-sclerosed. Seed 5 in. long, ovoid ; endosperm white, storing 

 fat, ^ ill. deep (copra), cavity of seed subserving flotation, embryo imbedded oppo- 

 site soft 'eye', conoidal, -| in. : fruits take a }ear to mature; a tree produces 50-100 

 nuts a year. 



Elaeis guineensis, Oil Palm of Trop. Africa, cult, in Tropics in vars., to 

 100 ft., with pinnate foliage and stem clothed with spinous leaf-bases; more or less 

 dioecious ; staminate inflorescence an aggregate of cylindrical spikes, flower with 

 6 stamens on a 'column'; carpellary system of cone-like spiral aggregates, giving 

 clusters of fruits the size of a walnut, with oil in sarcocarp ; sclerocarp with 3 ' eyes', 

 one functional, 10 mm. ; seed with white fatt)' endosperm. 



Calamus tenuis, Canes, of Sub-Himalya, in damp I'orest, stems slender, 5 mm., 

 forming cane-brakes, leaves pinnate, 1-2 ft., with thorny flagellum of modified 

 leaflets and inflorescence bracts; monoecious, staminate flowers small, in spikelets; 

 carpellary flower with scales in symmetrical pattern (suggestive of phyllotaxis) on 

 massive ovary with plumose stigmas. In fruit (^ in.) the scales clothe the outer 

 straw-coloured surface imbricating downwards; seed i, with horny endosperm. 



C. Botang of S. India, very similar ; other sp. (200) may be powerful climbers, 

 100-400 ft., with characteristic habit, leaf-rachis ' lora ', and similar flowers and 

 fruit. Cf. large brown polished scaly fruits of Raphia Riijfia (Sago Palm of K. Africa), 

 2\ in., borne on distichous ramuli. 



Caryota iirens, Mhar I'alm, in evergreen forest of W. Ghats, and Hill forests 



46 



