414 STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



of the Botanic Gardens at Trinidad, tells me that the limit 

 for Acrocomia, Oreodoxa, Sabal, Thrinax^ etc., when the fruits 

 are protected from the sun and rain, would be from three to 

 six months, whilst for Mauritia^ he says, the limit would be 

 only a week or two. Unless the embryo increases its oil 

 during its loss of water in the drying process its longevity 

 would seem to be but slight. The reciprocal relation between 

 oil and water in the embryo is a matter of importance for 

 certain palms. Thus I would assume that the oily embryo 

 of El^eis guineensis would possess a greater staying capacity than 

 the watery embryo of Areca Catechu^ though in both cases 

 marked shrinkage might take place in the case of the embryo 

 removed from the fresh ripe fruit. Let the fruits remain on 

 the palm and the difference in the behaviour would assert 

 itself ; but if both fruits are allowed to dry in the detached 

 condition, their embryos will probably be similarly shrunken. 

 One would only look for the contrast in the condition of the 

 embryos in the case of fruits that have dried on the tree. 

 Speaking generally, I would consider that palm seeds where 

 the albumen is ruminate, as with Areca^ Caryota^ and Thrinax^ 

 would preserve their vitality for a much shorter period than 

 where it is homogeneous, as in the majority of palms, the 

 more rapid drying of the ruminate albumen being promoted 

 by its peculiar structure. 



One may mention in passing a fact which, though familiar 

 to the students of palm fruits, may be new to some of my 

 The water of readers. The water filling the cavity of the fruit is not 

 e coco-nu . p^^^^j^j- ^q Cocos nucifera (Coco-nut), but occurs with other 

 palms of the same tribe of the family, at least in the immature 

 condition of the fruit, and in fruits so small that 300 or 400 

 of them are needed to make up the weight of a single coco-nut. 

 Thus in Bactris the hard black shell or endocarp of the ripe 

 fruit is soft and white in the immature fruit. The cavity 

 within the shell of the young fruit is lined by jelly-like 

 albumen and is quite full of water. As maturation proceeds 

 the albumen solidifies and increases so as ultimately to fill 



