THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 671 



The following are cultivated in India : — 

 Pinnae with prominent lateral nerves ; 



no yellow line on back of petiole ... H. amaricaulis. 



Pinnee with no prominent lateral nerves ; 



a yellow line on back of petiole ... H. Verschaffeltii. 



HYOPHORBE AMARICAULIS, Mart. Hist., Nat. Palm. Ill, 309 ; 

 Baker Fl. Maurit. and Seych. 383 ; O. Drude Palmae 64. — Sublimia 

 amaricaulis Commers. — Hyospathe amaricaulis, Hort. — Areca speciosa, Hort. 

 and Versch. — Areca purpurea, Makoy. 



Names. — Palmiste Gargoulette (French). 



Bitterstielige Eberpalme, Viehfutterpalme (German). 



Description. — Stem 60 feet high, 15-24 inches in diameter near 

 the base, bottle-shaped, slightly diminishing upwards to the base of 

 the leaf-sheaths, and there abruptly constricted. Leaf-sheath cylin- 

 drical ; petiole 12-18 inches long, somewhat trigonous, grooved on 

 the face; leaflets in 40-60 pairs, lanceolate, acuminate, 18 inches 

 long, 2 inches broad, with the central and one lateral vein pro- 

 minent on the upper surface, and several secondary veins also 

 prominent beneath, which are clothed towards the base with s\ib- 

 rigid, appressed, lanceolate scales. 



Spadix with clustered branches ; peduncle 1 foot long. Pistillode 

 of the male flowers elongated, grooved. 



Fruit elliptic-oblong. Seed elliptical, jV — it inches long, with 

 the branches of the raphe diverging a little above the hilum ; 

 embryo subapical or median. 



Habitat. — Mauritius ; common on Bound Island. ( Endemic.) 



iLLUSTRATions. — Plate LTXA shows a young specimen of Hyo- 

 ]Dliorhe amaricaulis, growing in the Victoria Gardens, Bombay. The 

 photograph was taken by Mr. Phipson. The specimen figured on 

 plate LIX B is some years older and grows in the Sibpur Botanic 

 Gardens. Both pictures show the characteristic bottle-shape of 

 the stem, and in both we notice a stick-like young leaf just at the 

 time when it begins to unfold. 



HYOPHORBE VERSCHAFFELTII, H. Wendl., Illust. Hort. XIII, t. 

 462, 463 ; Baker, Fl. Maurit. and Seych. 383.— Areca Verschafeltii, Lem. 

 and Hort. 



Names. — Palmiste marron (French). 



Verschaffelt's Eberpalme (German). 



Description. — Stem 25-30 feet high, 6-12 inches in diameter 

 at the base, biilging after a few feet, reaching 12-24 inches in 

 the middle, thence contracting upwards, rarely again bulging. 

 Petiole about 3 inches long, subterete, slightly grooved on the 

 upper s^lrface, with a yellow band extending from the upper part 

 of the leaf-sheath along the face of the petiole to the extremity 

 of the blade ; leaflets 30-50 pairs, acuminate, 20-30 inches long. 



