PALMS OF INDIA AND CEYLON. 67 



crenate, lobed and ending into as man}" bluntish and shortly 

 2-lobed lobes as there are ribs ; petiole short, 3-4 inches long, 

 scaly, sheathing at the base ; sheaths thinly scaly- rough, soon 

 turning glabroiis. 



Spadix stout, simple, reflexed ; rhachis as thick as the finger, fleshy. 

 Male flowers in 5-6 series ; female perianth (in young fruit) very 

 much like that of P. gracilis, the sepals and petals almost ; coniform, 

 broad-oval, blunt or bluntish, about a line lonsf or a little longer ; 

 staminodes apparently none; unripe fruits fibi'ous- fleshy, smooth, 

 fusiform and narrowed at the apex. 



Habitat. — In marshy places of the tropical forests of the 

 southern parts of the Pegu Yoma, as, e.;/. between Kyanzoo and 

 Kya Eng (Pazwoondoung Valley). 



PINANGA GRACILIS, BL, Rumph. II, 77 ; Kurz For. Fl. II, 538 ; Becc. 

 in Ann. Jard. Bot. Buitenz. II, 81, 86 ; Hook Fl. Brit. Ind. VI, 407 ; Brandis 

 Ind. Trees 647. — P. patula /3. gracilis, Scheff. in Natunrk. Tijdsch. Ned. 

 Ind. XXXII, 178.— Seaforthia gracilis, Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. Ill, 185, 313 ; 

 Kunth Enum. Ill, 191. — Areca gracilis, Roxb. Fl. Ind. Ill, 619 ; GriflF. in Calc. 

 Journ. Nat. Hist. V, 460 ; Palms Brit. Ind. 154, t. 232, A, C, f . 2 ; Kurz in 

 Journ. As. Soc. Bang. XLIII, II, 201 ; T. Anders. Journ. Linn. Soc. XI, 

 5. — Nenga gracilis, Becc. Males. I, 25. 



Names. — Ram gua (Beng.); Tawkun (Biu'm.). 



Description. — The stems are slender, usually gregarious, 6- — 20 

 feet high, 6-8 lines in diameter, distinctly and distantly annulate, 

 crown of about five or six leaves, which are 3-4 feet long ; sheath 

 half a foot long, the naked part of the leaf-stalk being 3 or 4 

 inches long ; petiole and sheath scurfy . Leaves sparingly pinnate ; 

 leaflets inserted by a very broad base, about a foot long, lower ones 

 2-3-ribbed, finely acuminate, upper ones 3-5 inches broad, pree- 

 morse, many-ribbed, obcuneate, truncate, bipartite to the middle, 

 about 8-cleft, divisions bidentate, emarginate, or entire and acute. 

 Spathe solitary, bifid. Spadix simple, reflexed. Male flowers in 

 three rows, broad, flat, imbricating ; calyx minute, three-cornered ; 

 petals 3, obliquely cordate, cuspidately acuminate, many times 

 longer than the calyx. Stamens numerous, shorter than the corolla. 

 Female flowers in large shallow niches with 3-toothed margins, 

 much smaller than the male flowers. Sepals broad, round. Petals 

 like the sepals, but smaller. No rudimentary stamens. Ovary 

 ovate, 1-celled; ovule one, erect. Style very short, stout. 



Fruit half an inch long and three or four lines broad, ovate, 

 tapering to the tip, scarlet or orange, smooth. Albumen highly 

 ruminate. Embryo basilar. 



Habitat. Sikkim, sub-Himalayan tract and valleys up to 2,000 

 feet, common; Assam; Khasia Hills; Cachar; Chittagong; Arakan 

 Yoma ; Pegu ; Mart.aban ; Tenasserim, in damp evergreen forests, 

 ascending to 3,500 feet. 



