a.38 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



In appearance the Betel-nut Palm is perhaps the most graceful 

 and elegant of Indian Palms. The erect and slender trunk is of 

 dark-green when young, and of a dark-grey colour when old. The 

 circles formed b}^ the clasping petioles of the leaves are distinctly 

 visible upon the stem. The summit terminates in a tuft of dark- 

 green foliage. The fruit ripens onl)^ once during the j^ear. At 

 this period the tree has a beautiful appearance, long bunches of 

 orange oval-shaped fruit hanging from the upper parts of the trunk, 

 contrasted by the dark-green foliage. 



ARECA CONCINNA, Thw. Enum. 328 (1864) ; Hook., Fl. Brit. Incl. 

 VI, 406 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. IV, 322.— A. dicksonii, Eoxb. (?). Moon Cat. 66, 

 C. P. 620. 



Name. — Len-teri (Ceylon). 



Description. — Trunk 8-12 feet high, 1-|-1| feet in diameter, 

 C3"lindric, green. Leaves few, 3-3^ feet long, spreading, subgla- 

 brous. Leaflets 2 feet long, 2^ inches broad, lanceolate, falcate, 

 caudate-acuminate, lower simple, 1-costate, upper of 2 or more 

 confluent, acuminate or toothed at the apex, terminal shorter, more 

 or less confluent in toothed laminae. 



Sheath 1 6 inches long ; spadix paniculately branched, a foot 

 or more long, very shortly peduncled ; rhachis short, stout, com- 

 pressed, smooth, branches filiform, terminating in pendulous male 

 spikes. Male flowers biseriate, j^ inch long ; sepals oblong, obtuse ; 

 petals nearly thrice as long, obliquely ovate-lanceolate, acuminate,. 

 striate ; stamens 6 ; anthers subsessile, linear-oblong, acute, cells 

 parallel, pistillode trigonous. Female flowers ^-\ inch long ; catyx 

 an obscure unequall}- 3-lobed cup ; petals broadlj" ovate-oblong, 

 obtuse. 



Frnit 1^ inch long, subfusiformly ovoid, umbonate, scarlet. 



Habitat.- — Forests of the moist low country of Cej^lon. Sub-- 

 aragamuwa, Eeigam Korale, Pasdun Korale (Endemic in Ceylon).. 



Flowers in September. 



Cultivation in India. — This palm is occasionall}^ planted ; the 

 fruits, however, which are also chewed Avith betel, like A. catechu,. 

 are generally obtained from wild trees (Hooker.). 



Illustration. — The dense tuft of Areca concinna on plate 

 LXXXII grows in the Botanic Garden of Peradeniya. The photo- 

 graph was kindly supplied by Mr. Macmillan. 



ARECA NAGENSIS, Griff, in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. V, 156 ; Palms 

 Brit. Ind. 129 ; Hook, f . Fl. Brit. Ind. VI, 406. 



Name of the palm in Naga, Tal-pat ; Singpho name, Tongtau ;. 

 name of the nut in Naga, Kave; in Assam, Tamul. 



Description. — This species is not well known, Griffith deriving 

 the description of it from imperfect specimens of leaves, an imper- 

 fect spadix with immature fruit, and a perfect fruit. 



