430 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [December 



mortar until a duIdv mass 



was produced. The seeds were then separated and the pulp was 

 thickened with meal made from pounded ''chia" (Salvia), or grass 

 seed, or pine nuts. The bony seed itself was pounded into 



The bony seed itself was pounded into meal, 

 which Dr. Edward Palmer ('78), who seems to have tried it, pro- 

 nounces "not inferior to cocoanut/' a statement which may be accepted 

 with some reservation. The terminal bud also was baked and eaten. 

 The Coahuilla name of the palm is Mau-waL Each grove was the 

 property of a particular clan, to whom alone belonged the right to 

 gather the fruit. 



An insect enemy. — The desert palm is not known to be infested by 

 any parasitic fungus, or to be subject to any bacterial infection. Its 

 sole enemy is the larva of a Bostry chide beetle, Dinapate Wrightii 

 Horn, the only species of the genus. The female oviposits at the 

 base of the living leaves, whence the lar\^a bores downward through 

 the trunk, its continually enlarging galleries becoming at length 

 jgmm [j^ diameter. These are tightly packed, for. the most part, 

 with rejected gnawings. The larval life of the insect is three or 

 four years, perhaps even longer. The mature beetle has a lej 



Q 



American 



The number of contemporaneous larvae that may inhabit a single 

 nk has been estimated as high as 200 or 3C0; but ]Mr. W. G. 



Wright 



gated its habits, is of opinion that it would probably not exceed 50- 

 But even such a horde of huge and voracious grubs, in their compara- 

 tively long life, might riddle a whole trunk with their galleries. They 

 seem not to work any great destruction to the groves, however; 

 in fact, the only evidences of their presence to the ordinar}^ observer 

 are the exit holes in dead trunks. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



In the preparation of this account I have been greatly aided by 

 ormation communicated by several friends. I especially desire 



.\RDO 



palmographer of Florence, Italy, for valuable notes regarding the 

 Washingtonias cultivated in Europe, and for the photographs illus- 



trating them. 



made for me 



