PALM.E 97 



to below the middle into narrow acuminate parted segments with thickened margins and 

 midribs; rachis a narrow border, with thin usually undulate margins; ligule thick, con- 

 cave, pointed, lined while young with hoary tomentum; petioles compressed, rounded above 

 and below, thin and smooth on the margins, with large clasping bright mahogany-red 

 sheaths of slender matted fibres covered with thick hoary tomentum. Spadix interfoliar, 

 stalked, its primary branches short, alternate, flattened, incurved, with numerous slender 

 rounded flower-bearing branchlets; spathes numerous, tubular, coriaceous, cleft and more or 

 less tomentose at the apex. Flowers opening in May and June, and occasionally irregularly 

 in the autumn, solitary, perfect; perianth 6-lobed; stamens inserted on the base of the peri- 

 anth, with subulate filaments thickened and only slightly united at the base, or nearly trian- 

 gular and united into a cup adnate to the perianth, and oblong anthers; ovary 1 -celled, grad- 

 ually narrowed into a stout columnar style crowned by a large funnel-formed flat or oblique 

 stigma ; ovule basilar, erect. Fruit a globose drupe with juicy bitter ivory-white flesh easily 

 separable from the thin-shelled tawny brown nut. Seed free, erect, slightly flattened at 

 the ends, with an oblong pale conspicuous subbasilar hilum, a short-branched raphe, a thin 

 coat, and uniform albumen more or less deeply penetrated by a broad basal cavity; embryo 

 lateral. 



Thrinax is confined to the tropics of the New World and is distributed from southern 

 Florida through the West Indies to the shores of Central America. Seven or eight species 

 are now generally recognized. 



The wood of the Florida species is light and soft, with numerous small fibro-vascular 

 bundles, the exterior of the stem being much harder than the spongy interior. The stems 

 are used for the piles of small wharves and turtle-crawls, and the leaves for thatch, and in 

 making hats, baskets, and small ropes. 



Thrinax, from dplva.%, is in allusion to the shape of the leaves. 



CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES. 



Flowers on elongated pedicels; perianth obscurely lobed; stamens much exserted, their 

 filaments subulate, barely united at base; stigma oblique; cavity of the seed extending 

 to the apex. 



Perianth obscurely lobed; style abruptly enlarged into a large oblique stigma; leaves 

 silvery white on the lower surface. 1. T. floridana (D). 



Perianth deeply lobed; style narrowed gradually into a small oblique stigma; leaves green 

 on both surfaces. 2. T. Wendlandiana (D). 



Flowers on short pedicels; lobes of the perianth ovate, acuminate; filaments nearly trian- 

 gular, united below into a cup; stigma flat; cavity of the seed extending only to the 

 middle. 

 Seeds pale chestnut-brown; spadix about 6 long; leaves 3-4 in diameter. 



3. T. keyensis (D). 

 Seeds dark chestnut-brown; spadix less than 3 long; leaves not over 2 in diameter. 



4. T. microcarpa (D). 



1. Thrinax floridana Sarg. Thatch. 



Leaves 2^-3 in diameter, rather longer than broad, yellow-green and lustrous on the 

 upper surface, silvery white on the lower surface, with a long-pointed, bright orange-colored 

 ligule f long and broad; petioles 4-4 long, pale yellow-green or orange color toward 

 the apex, coated at first with hoary deciduous tomentum, much thickened and to- 

 mentose toward the base. Flowers: spadix 3-3| long, the primary branches 6'-8' long 

 and ivory-white, flower-bearing branches l|'-2' in length; flowers on slender pedicels 

 nearly \' long, ivory-white, very fragrant, with an obscurely-lobed perianth, much ex- 

 serted stamens barely united at the base, and a large stigma. Fruit f ' in diameter, 

 somewhat depressed at the ends; seed from f to nearly \' in diameter, dark chestnut- 

 brown. 



