THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 459 



Spathes of female spadix brown, conduplicate, the outer one some- 

 times very long and accnminate. Branches very stout, green,various- 

 ly ascending, tapering at the ends, where they are caudiform and not- 

 ched, the notches bearing rudimentary flowers. Bracts 2, right and 

 left. Flowers purplish, crowded, occupying the lower part of a flatfish 

 areola, bases somewhat immersed. Calyx very short, divided to the 

 middle into 3 broad rounded teeth. Corolla shorter than the ovary, 

 trifid, segments broadly half ovate, obtuse, depressed. Stigma an 

 indistinctly emarginate point. 



Fruit oblong, about ^ inch long, dull purple, surrounded at the 

 base by the perianth, on the apex presenting a brown spot, the 

 remains of the stigma. Epicarp tough, rather thin ; flesh scanty 

 with a mucilaginous acrid juice. Seeds plano-convex. Albumen 

 horny and solid ; embryo dorsal. 



Habitat. — Tropical Himalaya from Kuniaon eastwards up to 

 4,000 feet; Assam, Khasia Hills; Chittagong. 



(Assam, Sikkim, up the Teesta Valley to Chakung, at 4,400 feet, 

 growing side by side with the birch, willow, alder, and walnut. 

 Kumaon, in shady and moist valleys, ascending to 3,500 feet, and 

 at times to 4,000 feet, forming extensive thickets in the valleys of 

 the Kali and Sarju ; Bamauri Pass, below Naini Tal, and in the 

 Patli Dun, which seems to be its north-west limit. Brandis.) 



Flowers,^ — May, June and 3u\j. 



Uses. — In Kumaon the leaves are used as thatch and are said to 

 be imperishable. In Darjeeling the leaves are used as fodder for 

 pone3^s. 



Illustration : — Plate LII. The photograph, taken by 

 Mr. Macmillan, shows a tuft of Wallicliia densiflora growing in 

 the Botanic Garden of Peradeniya. 



WALLICHIA CARYOTOIDES, Eoxb. Cor. PL III, t. 295 ; Mart. Hist. 

 Nat. Palm. Ill, 180, t. 136; Wall. Cat. 8596 A ; Griff, in Calc. Journ. Nat. 

 Hist. V, 485 ; Kurz For. PI. II, 532 ; Miq. PL Ind. Bat. Ill, 34 ; Hook. Fl. 

 Brit. Ind. VI, 419 — WaUichia densiflora, ^rsindiis, ?jo?z Mart, ex Dammer 

 Palmenz. (1897) 81 — Harina caryotoides, Ham. in Mem. Wern. Soc. V, 

 317; Griff. Palms Brit. Ind. 174, t. 237 — Wrightia caryotoides, Pioxb. Hort. 

 Beng. 68 ; Fl. Ind. Ill, 621 — Harina WaUichia, Steud. ex Salomon, Palmen 

 (1887), 127. 



Names.— Chilputta, Belputta (Chittagong) ; Saingpa (Burm.). 



Description. — An elegant tufted palm, stemless or short-stemmed. 

 Leaves ascending curved, 8-9 feet long, oblong in outline. Petiole 

 naked and roundish throughout the lower four feet. Leaflets 

 oblong or linear-oblong, panduriformlj^ excised and acutely toothed, 

 white beneath. 



Male corolla half as long as the calj^x ; mouth of calyx 3-toothed. 

 Female spadix terminal, shorter than the leaves, erect or almost 

 nodding. Spathes closely imbricated, concealing the peduncle. 



