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M. amicarum | METROXYLON. 187 
7. METROXYLON AMICARUM Becc. 
Sagus amicarum Wendl. in Bot. Zeit, 1878, 115. 
Ceelococcus amicarum Warb. in Berich. Deut. Bot. Gesell. xiv (1896), 140; 
W. F. Wight ex Safford, Useful Pl. of Guam in Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 9 
(1905), 244, pls. 45—46; Merrill, Enum. Pl. of Guam in Philipp. Journ Se. ix, 
(Botany), 1914, 63. 
C. carolinensis Dingl. in Bot. Centralbl. xxxii (1877), 347; Schum. and 
Lauterbach, Fl. Deut. Schutzg. in der Südsee, 1901 (Nach.), 606; Volkens 
in Engl. Bot. Jahrb xxxi, 419. 
Metrorylon carolinense Becc. in Denkschriften der K. Akad. d. Wissensch. . 
Math. Naturw. Klas. 4, Wien, lxxxix (1913), 60, f; 5 a, 5d. 
Description.—A large palm of the usual habit of the common Sago trees, but 
with solitary non-proliferous trunk, 6—8 m. high, columnar and said to be spinescent 
(Kersting), crowned by 10—20 leaves, and covered with the bases of the old ones. 
The leaves are about 6 m. long, of which the lower third part is formed by -the 
petidle (Volkens); it is. not stated if the bases of the leaves and the petioles are 
smooth or spinescent. The Jleaflets are numerous, linear or. lanceolate-ensiform, 
unicostate, straight, very acuminate, green and shiny on both surfaces, with smooth 
margins and mid-costa, except for a few spinules occasionally near the apex above 
on the mid-costa. The. inflorescence is terminal, but apparently it is not so high as 
in M. Rumphii, M. Sagus, M. vitiense, ete., but is equally composed of several partial 
spadices, each of which issues from the axilla of one of the uppermost leaves. The 
leaves evidently persist on the plant to complete maturity of the fruits, which hang 
in clusters from among the leaves, the branches of the spadix not being able to 
stand erect, obviously from the great weight of the fruits; otherwise’ the infiores- 
cence is terminal and has exactly the same structure as that of M. Rumphit, 
M. Sagus, etc., and as in those, its main divisions are composed of several spike- 
bearing branches. The spikes and the flowers are extremely like those of the 
common Metroxylons, and have like those the flowers in pairs, one being male 
and the other female-hermaphrodite; both are accompanied by the usual special 
bracteoles, although the latter are not very wooly and consequently the spikes have 
not a tomentose appearance. The fruit is very large, but very variable in size and 
has the usual structure of all Metrorylons, only its pericarp. is clothed with more 
numerous scales, arranged in 24—28 vertical series instead of 18, as is the rule in 
all the species of the section Humetroxylon. The seed 1s also exactly the same, 
has a large chalazal cavity in its upper part, an orbicular basilar hilum, an ivory- 
like albumen, horse-shoe-shaped in vertical section, and the embryo in proximity 
to the hilum. du ee db 
Hapirat.—It was at first supposed that the native country of M. amicarum 
was Tahiti (the Friendly Islands), and in this belief it received such an inappro- 
priate specific name, which, however, cannot now be changed. Its true native country 
is the Caroline group, and it is from those Islands, and especially from Panape 
that the seeds are exported to Germany. Volkens writes that he met with it in, both 
the Truk Islands, belonging to the group. The plant receives the name of ‘ Ivorynut- 
Palm," and the seeds are known as “Tahiti nuts ' “Polynesian Ivory-nuts. 
" Sudsee-Steinnusse,”’ etc. 
ANN. Roy. Bot. GARD., CALCUTTA; VoL. XII. 
