EUGEISSONA. 197 
fibres running longitudinally through a spongy or corky tissue ; endocarp very hard, 
woody or almost bony, having at its base a not exactly defined opening . which is 
encirled by a crown of very coarse fibres. The endocarpal cavity is divided 
inside, very regularly, by 6—12 incomplete dissepiments, 3 of which reach nearly 
to the centre of the only seed it contains, and the others alternately remain shorter. 
Seed large, filling completely the endocarpal cavity, moulded to it and marked by 
as many furrows as there are dissepiments, the depth of the furrows correspond- 
ing to the length of the dissepiments. Albumen homogeneous, bony, often fissured 
in the centre. Embryo basal. 
In a paper published in Martellis “ Webbia” iv, Lc. (Le Palme del 
Genere Zugeissona sono delle Lepidocaryeae o piultosto delle Cocotneae?) I have 
remarked that the systematic position at present assigned to Eugeissonas amongst 
the Lepidocaryeae is inappropriate, and that they are more closely related to the 
Cocoineae than to any other group of palms. In fact, with the exception of the 
scaly pericarp, the  Zugeíssonas have no other character in common with the 
Lepidocaryeae, as no other genus of this tribe has such inflorescence and flowers, 
and especially a fruit with the endocarp woody and pervious at its base. I think 
therefore that the Jugerssonas constitute an isolated group of palms, intermediate 
between the .Lepidocaryeae and the Cocotneae, and that in any case they represent 
a subtribe of the latter. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.— The species of  Zugeíssona known at present are 
only 6, and. with the exception of Æ. tristis, which is endemic in the Malay 
Peninsula, all are Bornean. In Borneo itself the species appear rather localized, 
E. minor however being an exception, as it was found in the extreme west of 
the island as well as in the north-west, but as Æ. minor is a species growing 
in swamps, it may have had its fruits dispersed by floods. The other species, 
however. grow in dry ground and especially on mountains (E. insignis in Sarawak), 
and having very hard and heavy fruits, it i$ not easy to understand how they 
have been dispersed, unless by the agency of terrestrial rodents. E. utilis is 
apparently relatively widespread in Borneo probably through the agency of man 
as it is a useful plant, from which a good sort of Sago flour is obtained, and 
accordingly receives a kind of rudimentary cultivation from some, tribes of the 
interior of Borneo. (Beecari Nelle foreste di Borneo, p. 415, and b duc in the 
Great Forests of Borneo, p. 307.) 
The species at' present known, although much the same in habit and structure 
of flowers and fruits, nevertheless offer precise and easily appreciable diagnostic 
characters. Owing to the great localization of the species, probably several others 
remain to be discovered in Borneo. 
: EUGEISSONA. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES. 
À.—Fruit divided internally by 6 incomplete dissepiments— 
I. Almost stemless and caespitose. 
Flowers 5 cm. long, style acutely trigonous, 2 mm. long. 
f. E. tristis Gritt.—Malay Peninsula. 
