814 



COCOS 



cocos 



only one at all common. To these may be added the 

 true C. australis, not known here in the trade at all, a 

 tall-growing species, and not the dwarf one commonly 

 sold under this name. J. Harrison Wright, of Riverside, 

 has grown this novel species and assures the writer of 

 its hardiness in his garden where C. plumosa succumbs 

 in comparatively mild winters. These notes are based 

 upon a close study of these species and varieties as 

 observed during the past few winters in the gardens of 

 Los Angeles and Pasadena in Southern California. 

 (Ernest Braunton.) 



aurea, 8. 

 australis, 2, 7. 

 botryophora, 2. 

 butyracea, 5. 

 campestris, 12. 



INDEX. 



coronata, 2, 11. 

 Datil, 2, 10. 

 eriospatha, 1. 

 flexuosa, 2. 

 insignis, 13. 



nucifera, 8. 

 plumosa, 2, 4. 

 Romanzoffiana, 6. 

 Weddelliana, 3. 

 Yatay, 9. 



A. Filaments present on the rachis. 



1. eriospatha, Mart. St. 9-15 ft. high, 10-14 in. 

 thick, capitately thickened with the persistent bases of 

 the petioles: Ivs. ample, glaucous, finely pectinate; 

 margins of the rachis with excurrent filaments; segms. 

 about 1 in. apart, the lower elongated, linear, 20-24 in. 

 long, very long-acuminate, the upper narrowly linear, 

 short, attenuate, 1 ft. long, 2 lines wide, all rigid, faintly 

 nervose-striate : spadix thick, branched but very com- 

 pact. S. Brazil. "The hardiest of the genus and one 

 of the hardiest palms in S. Calif. Fronds bluish: fr. 

 pulp tastes like apricots." F. Franceschi, Santa Bar- 

 bara. Some of the C. australis of the trade may belong 

 here. 



AA. Filaments absent. 



B. Rachis abruptly contracted above the insertion of the 

 lowest Ifts. 



2. flexudsa, Mart. St. 9-42 ft. high, 2-3 ^ in. diam., 

 arcuate-ascending, naked just above the base, thence 

 densely clothed with dead petiole bases: Ivs. lax, 3-6 ft. 

 long; petiole flat above, arcuate, at first tomentose, later 

 smooth; rachis abruptly narrowed above the insertion 

 of the lowest If.-segm., thence linear-filiform at the 

 apex, excurrent; segms. 70-90 on each side, rigid in 

 opposite groups, the middle 10-14 in. long, J^in. wide, 

 the upper 4 in. long, j^in. wide: spadix long-peduncled 

 and rather loose. Brazil. Cult, in northern green- 

 houses. Similar in habit to S. plumosa, but with more 

 finely cut Ivs., and in S. Eu. considered to stand more 

 frost. Probably the C. flexuosa planted in this country is 

 not the true species C. flexuosa of Martius, but of 

 Hort., a hardy form of C. Romanzoffiana, Cham., 

 which latter according to the late Barbosa-Rodriguez 

 is a polymorphic species including, besides this flexuosa 

 type, all our garden forms known as C. plumosa, Hook., 

 C. coronata, Hort., not Mart., C. botryophora, Hort., C. 

 Datil, Griseb. & Drude, and C. australis, Mart. The 

 foregoing description has been drawn from Martius and 

 not from cult, specimens. The true C. flexuosa of Mar- 

 tius is a slender-stemmed palm from tropical Brazil. 



The true C. australis of Martius is native in Paraguay; 

 it is like C. plumosa in appearance but hardier. 



BB. Rachis not abruptly contracted. 



C. Lfts. flaccid. 



D. Arrangement of Ifts. equidistant. 

 3. Weddelliana, Wendl. (Glaziova Martiana, Glaz., 

 to which genus Martius considers the species to 

 belong). Fig. 1013. St. 4-7 ft. high, 1^ 

 in. diam., densely covered with persistent 

 sheaths: Ivs. equally pectinate-pinnatisect, 

 3-3 J^ ft. long; petiole 8-20 in.; sheath co- 

 riaceous-fibrous, glabrous or tomentose, with 

 slender brown hairs, at length evanescent; 

 blade 2-3 ft. ; segms. about 50 on each side, 

 widely spreading, the middle 5 in. long, 2 

 lines wide, subequidistant, glaucous beneath; 

 rachis filiform at the apex, brown -scaly: 

 spadix equaling the Ivs., stiff and erect. Trop. 

 Brazil. R.H. 1879, p.434. I.H. 

 22:220. A. G. 16:345. The 

 most important of small orna- 

 mental palms for the N. 



DD. Arrangement of Ifts. in 

 groups of 2~4- 

 4. plumosa, Hook. St. 

 30786 ft. high, 10-12 in. 

 thick, ringed at inter- 

 vals of a foot, clothed 



1014. Coconut germinating. 



near the apex with remnants of the dead petioles : Ivs. 

 erect-spreading, 12-15 ft. long, recurving; petiole a 

 third to half as long as the blade; segms. linear-acumi- 

 nate, sparse, solitary or mostly in groups of 2-4, 1J^ 

 ft. long, deflexed near the apex: spadix usually 3 ft. 

 long and much branched, the branchlets pendular. 

 Cent. Brazil. B.M. 5180. The chief avenue palm of 

 the genus. A quick grower, ultimately 50 ft. high in S. 

 Fla. and Calif. The slender smooth lobes and heads of 

 graceful recurving Ivs. make this a very attractive tree. 



cc. Lfts. rigid. 

 D. Form of Ifts. sword-shaped. 



5. butyracea, Linn. Sts. very tall, naked: Ivs. pin- 

 nate; Ifts. simple: spathe cylindrical-oblong, 4-6 ft.; 

 spadix as long as the spathe, 4-6 ft.; branches of the 

 spadix about 1 ft., thickly clustered and somewhat 

 pendulous. Venezuela. Rare and perhaps confused 

 with Scheelea butyracea. Little known, although long 

 ago described. 



6. Romanzoffiana, Cham. Sts. 30-40 ft. high, some- 

 what fusiform above: Ivs. about half as long as the cau- 

 dex, the withered ones deflexed, pendent, the upper 

 spreading, often arching; segms. conduplicate at the 

 base, ensif orm : spadix about 6 ft. long, at first inclosed 

 in a stout pendulous spathe which appears among the 

 lowest Ivs. S. Brazil near the sea; according to recent 

 characterizations, it comprises a wide variety of forms, 

 as explained under No. 2. 



1015. Coconuts. 



