Chamcerops.] LXXVII. PALBLE. 547 



Grows in great numbers, forming clumps and rows, on the Thakil Moun- 

 tain in eastern Kamaon, in the fork between the Sarju and Kali rivers, between 

 6500 and 7800 ft., where snow generally covers the ground from Nov. till March, 

 above the zone of Pinus longifolia in the region of Quercus, Rhododendron, 

 Andromeda, and Taxus, in damp shady glens on the north and south-east, but 

 chiefly on the north-west side. Also on Dhuj' Mountain, north-east of the 

 Thakil, on the Kalimoandi range between the Ramgunga and Gori rivers, and 

 in the Sarju valley near Bagesar. Dwarf specimens were found by Madden in 

 two localities of north-west Kamaon viz., at the base of the Satbunga Moun- 

 tain, south-east of the Gagar Pass, in very dense forest at 6500 ft. elevation, and 

 on the Berchula, a spur of the Bhatkot Mountain, considerably farther in the 

 interior, and at about 8000 ft. elevation, which probably is its western limit. 

 Also in great abundance at Bunipa in the great Nepal valley 5000 ft. elevation 

 (Wallich). FL April, May ; fr. Oct. The fruit is eaten, though the pulp is 

 scanty and almost tasteless. 



G. khasyana, Griff. ; Calcutta Journ. Nat. Hist. v. 341, on precipices at Musmai 

 and Mamlu, Kasia, alt. 4000 ft. Vern. Pakha, Hook. Him. Journ. ii. 279 is 

 described as a distinct species, differing by the petioles toothed throughout, the 

 nature of the fibrous net of the petiole sheaths, and the thick white paleaceous 

 tomentum with which the young leaves are covered. The fruit is blue when 

 ripe, like that of G. Martiana, and both Madden and Hooker have suggested the 

 identity of the two. In Griffith's posthumous work (Palms of British India, 

 134), Thakil in Kamaon is given as a locality of G. khasyana. In Voigt's 

 Hort. Suburb. Calc. 641, the Kasia Palm is mentioned as cultivated in the Cal- 

 cutta gardens (without having flowered) under the name of G. Griffithiana, 

 Wall. MSS. In the Revue Horticole of 1870, 276, G. Griffithii, Lodd, is de- 

 scribed and figured as a Palm 10 ft. high, petiole unarmed, without serratures, 

 but white-tomentose when young ; received at Paris in 1839 from Dr Wallich in 

 Calcutta. This probably is C. Martiana of Nepal and Kamaon. The question 

 whether the Kasia plant is a distinct species is a matter for farther inquiry. 

 No Ghamcerops has yet been reported from Sikkim. 



Hermann Wendland, as quoted by Gay (Ghamosrops excelsa, Thunb. in Bulle- 

 tin de la Societe Botanique de France, 1861), classes the two species mentioned, 

 together with G. excelsa, Thunb., of Japan and North China, under a new genus, 

 Tr achy carpus, distinguished from Ghamcerops by an elongated inflorescence, 

 subulate filaments, hairy ovaries ; the embryo dorsal, but situated above the 

 middle ; whereas in G. humilis, and allied species of Ghamcerops proper, the 

 embryo is situated near the base of the back, the ovaries are glabrous, and the 

 filaments short, broad, and connate at the base. G. excelsa is a most useful 

 plant ; the leaves are made into hats and waterproof cloaks, and rope is manu- 

 factured of the inner fibrous layer of the sheath. 



G. humilis, Linn., is a widely spread Palm, with small semicircular leaves of 

 20-30 segments, of the western Mediterranean region and North Africa, its nor- 

 thernmost limit being the Riviera near Nice, N.L. 43. In Spain it covers 

 large extents of waste land, and is sometimes found difficult to eradicate, on 

 account of its deep and tough roots. Mats and baskets are made of the leaves, 

 and they have of late years been employed to make paper. The hard horny 

 ruminated albumen of the seed is made into rosary-beads. 



2. 0. Ritchieana, Griff. Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. v. 342. Mazri. Vern. 

 Mzardi, trans-Indus (maizurrye, Pushtu, Griff.) ; Kiln, kaliun, Salt 

 range. The fibre is called patha in the Panjab. Pfis, pesh, pease, /ease, 

 pfarra, pharra, Sindh, Beluchistan. 



