AKECACEAE. 61 



shorter than the leaves. Flowers pedicellate, monoecious, the pistillate with 

 a short, 3-lobed calyx, 3 valvate petals and 6 stamens or staminodia, the 

 staminate similar, a little larger. [Greek, false date.] Only one species, 

 native of Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba and Hispaniola. Type species: Pseudo- 

 phoenix Sargentii Wendl. 



1. Pseudophoenix vinifera (Mart.) Becc. Pomona College Journ. Econ. Bot. 

 2: 268. 1912. 



Euterpe vinifera Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3 : LXXXV. 1845. 

 Pseudophoenix Sargentii Wendl. Bot. Gaz. 11: 314. 1886. 

 Cydospathe Northropi O. F. Cook, Mem. Torr. Club 12: 25. 1902. 



A tree up to 8 m. high, usually lower, the trunk 2-3 dm. in diameter. 

 Leaves spreading, 1-2 m. long; petiole concave, thin-margined, 1-2 dm. long; 

 segments linear-lanceolate, acuminate, those at the middle of the leaf 4-5 dm. 

 long, those toward the bai?e and apex shorter; panicle about half as long as 

 the leaves, its branches rather widely spreading, flattened and angled; petals 

 ovate or ovate-oblong, 5-6 mm. long, obtuse, yellowish-green; staminodia less 

 than half as long as the petals; fruiting pedicels 4-6 mm. long; drupe orange- 

 red, fleshy, normally 2-3-lobed, 1-2 cm. broad, the calyx persistent at its base. 



Sandy and rocky soil, Frozen Cay, Berry Islands ; South Bimini ; Andros ; New 

 Providence ; Ship Channel Cay to Great Exuma ; Little San Salvador ; Mariguana ; 

 Inagua : Long Key and Elliott's Key, Florida ; Cuban Cays ; Santo Domingo. Re- 

 corded by Dolley as Euterpe oleracea Mart. Hoc CABBAGE-PALM. HOG PALMETTO. 



6. cdCQS L, Sp. PL 1188. 1753. 



Unarmed palms, with pinnate leaves, their numerous segments narrow, 

 their petioles concave above, the monoecious, bracted flowers mostly densely 

 clustered among the petioles, the staminate uppermost in the clusters, smaller 

 than the pistillate. Staminate flowers with 3 small valvate sepals, 3 oblong 

 valvate petals, and 6 stamens with subulate filaments, the anthers linear. 

 Pistillate flowers ovoid, the 3 thick sepals imbricated, the 3 coriaceous petals 

 valvate, the ovary 3-celled, with 2 of the cells usually empty, the ovule ascend- 

 ing. Fruit 1-seeded, often large, the pericarp fibrous, the bony endocarp 3- 

 porose near the base. Seed with a hollow or solid endosperm, the embryo op- 

 posite one of the pores of the endocarp. [The coco-nut.] Perhaps 30 species, 

 of tropical America and subtropical South America, the following typical one 

 widely distributed also in the Old World tropics, its original home unknown. 



1. Cocos nucifera L. Sp. PI. 1188. 1753. 



Trunk up to 30 m. high, usually 10-20 m. Leaves 3-6 m. long, some- 

 what drooping, short-petioled, the numerous linear-lanceolate, acuminate seg- 

 ments shining above, 5-7 dm. long, about 5 cm. wide; staminate flowers 10-12 

 mm. long; pistillate flowers about 2.5 cm. long; fruit ovoid or ellipsoid, 

 bluntly 3-angled, 2-3 dm. long, the fibrous husk 2-4 cm. thick, the bony endo- 

 carp 3-5 mm. thick, the hollow endosperm about 1 cm. thick, filled with a clear 

 saccharine liquid, which ultimately disappears. 



Locally spontaneous after cultivation, nearly throughout the archipelago : all 

 tropical insular and coastal regions. COCO-NUT. 



Eoystonea regia (H.B.K.) O. F. Cook, EOYAL PALM, recorded from the 

 Bahamas, is known to us in the archipelago only as a planted tree. 



