Chamcerops.] LXXVII. FAIMM. 549 



pouches, brushes. Trans-Indus, a rude kind of drinking- cup is made of the 

 entire blade, by tying together the tops of the segments. The seeds are pierced, 

 made into rosaries, and are exported for that purpose to Mekka via Muscat, from 

 Gwadur on the Beluchistan coast west of the Indus. 



Gorypha'umbraculifera, Linn. Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 177, the Talipot Palm of 

 Ceylon and the Malabar coast, has bisexual hexandrous flowers in a large erect 

 compound pyramidal panicle, which is terminal in the centre of the crown of 

 leaves, and as tall as the trunk of the tree. After the seeds ripen the vegetation 

 of the terminal shoot is completed, and the tree dies. The leaves are nearly 

 orbicular, with a diameter of 10 ft., segments 40-50, united beyond the middle, 

 and bifid. Fans, mats, and umbrellas are made of the leaves, and the segments 

 of this as well as of a closely allied species, G. Taliera, Roxb. Cor. PI. t. 255, 

 256 Sans. Tali; Vern. Tara, Beng. which grows in Bengal, are used for 

 writing, like the leaves of Borassus, and books of these leaves last for centuries. 

 There is a third species, 0. elata, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 176 Vern. Bajur, Beng., 

 also a native of Bengal, trunk 60-70 ft. high, and inflorescence one-fourth the 

 length of the trunk. Roxburgh records that two trees of this species at Calcutta 

 came into flower when about thirty years old. The two Bengal species flower 

 in March and April, the seed ripening 8-9 months afterwards. The albumen of 

 Corypha is horny. 



3. WALLICHIA, Roxb. 



Caespitose shrubs, generally monoicous, with tufts of leaves or slender 

 reed-like stems, from an underground rhizome. Leaves pinnatifid, petioles 

 with short fibrous sheaths ; pinnae white beneath, lanceolate or cuneate, 

 sinuate or lobed, alternate, the upper generally broader and confluent, the 

 lower often subopposite and fasciculate ; lateral nerves fine, numerous, 

 separating at oblique angles from the prominent midrib, and terminating 

 in unequal subulate teeth, where they do not run parallel to the edge of 

 the leaf. Male and female flowers in distinct inflorescences, enclosed in 

 bud by numerous imbricate sheaths. Calyx of male flowers gamosepalous, 

 stamens 6 (subgenus Harina), or 3 sepalous, stamens numerous (sub- 

 genus Orania). No rudiment of ovary. Calyx and corolla of female 

 flower deeply 3-partite, generally coriaceous. Ovary 2-celled. Fruit 

 fleshy, with acrid juice, 2-seeded or (by abortion) 1 -seeded; albumen 

 uniform, horny, embryo in the convex part (back) of the seed. 



1. W. densiflora, Martius ; Bot. Mag. t. 4584. Syn. Harina oblongi- 

 folia, Griffith Palms, t. 237, A. B.C. Yern. Kala Aunsa (black reed), 

 gov aunsa, Kamaon. Ooh (iih) of the Lepchas in Sikkim. 



A stemless palm, forming thick tufts of large leaves 10 ft. long or more, 

 which die to the ground after the fruit ripens. Petiole angular, naked in 

 the lower half or two-fifths of its length, the edges separating into black 

 fibres covered with dark-brown scurf; pinnae linear-lanceolate, 9-18 in. 

 long. Male flowers nearly white, crowded, in numerous densely packed 

 spikes, which form a compact drooping, ovoid panicle, enclosed before 

 flowering in large ovate, imbricated, dark-purple sheaths, streaked with 

 yellow. Calyx tubular, truncate, 2 lines long ; petals linear, twice the 

 length of calyx, connate at the base with each other and the stamens into 

 a short fleshy stalk. Stamens as long as petals. Female flowers in rigid 



