536 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



fewer than the males, between 2 males or single. Sepals ovate- 

 pyramidal-acuminate, involute, glabrous. Petals entirely sur- 

 rounded by the calyx. Ovary ovate, glabrous, attenuate towards 

 the apex ; stigmas 3. 



Drupe about 1-^ inches long, ovate. 



Habitat. — Brazil, in the mediterranean region of Minas Geraes. 



Flowers in August. 



Suh-genus III—ABEGASTRUM, Drude (emend.). 



Female flowers ovate ; tips of the sepals in aestivation cucullate 

 (always ?) ; petals at the base convoluto-imbricate, tips valvate. 



Fruit of medium size, ovoid, unilocular ; pericarp often fleshy- 

 fibrous, sweet ; endocarp large, bony, marked with 3 sub-basilar 

 pores, produced inside to the base of the fertile cell ; the traces of 

 the suppressed cells small in the large bony substance of the endo- 

 carp. Seed irregular, conform with the cell, gibbous -curved ; 

 albumen equable, slightly hollow ; embryo obliquely basilar. 



Species about 7. In tropical and extratropical South America,, 

 extending to 35'^ Lat., except the western region of the Andes. 



COCOS ROMANZOIFIANA, Chamisso in Choris, Voyage pitt. autour 

 du Monde 5, t. V et VI (1822) et in Flora, VI. (1823) pt. I, 226; 

 Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. II, 127, t. 88, f. VII, et III. 321 ; Kth. Enum. PI. 

 Ill, 286; Wendl. in Kerch. Palm. 241 ; Hook, in Ptep, Kew, 1882 (1884) 

 241 ; Drude in Mart. Fl. Bras. Ill, 11. 419, t. 92 (excl. fig. II); Becc. Le 

 Palm, incluse nel gen. cocos, in Malpighia, anno I, fasc. VIII, 25. 



Name. — Giriba Palm. 



Description. — Stem 30-40 feet high, erect. Leaves arcuate- 

 patent and recurved, pinnate, leaflets ensiform, reduplicate. 



Spadices growing from between the leaves, 6 — 8 feet long. 

 Spathes when closed clavate, erect, when open lanceolate, mucronate,. 

 pendulous, peduncle of spadix compressed-terete ; branches with a 

 coriaceous bract. Male flowers on the lower f of the branches 

 together with the females, alone on the upper part. Cal3"x very 

 small, about 1 line long ; sepals triangular, acute ; petals lanceo- 

 late, acute, about 6 lines long, longitudinally striate, sulcate inside 

 on account of the pressure of the stamens. Stamens included ;. 

 filaments subulate, at the base united into a disc, about 1 line long ; 

 anthers basifixed. Female flowei's ovate-globose, 2-3 lines long;: 

 sepals coriaceous, subobovate-orbicular, very concave, culullate- 

 imbricate (Martins) ; petals included in the calyx. Ovary ovate- 

 globose, pubescent. 



Drupe the size of a walnut. 



Habitat. — Bi^azil : Island of Santa Oatharina. 



COCOS PLUMOSA, Hook f. in Bot. Mag. t. 5180 (1860) et in Rep. Kew. 

 1882 (1884) 72, (non Lodd); Arcangeli in Bull. Societa Toscana d'Ortic. III,.. 



