THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 359 



PHOsNIX PUSILLA, Gaertn. Fruct. I. 24 (1788) ; Trim, in Journ. 



Linn. Soc. XXIII, 173 ; Fl. Ceylon IV, 327— P. farinifem, Roxb. Cor. PI. 



I. 55., t. 74 ;Hort. Beng. 73 ; Fl. Ind. Ill, 785 ; Mart. Hist. Palm. Ill, 274 ; 



Griff, in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. V, 348 ; Palms Brit. Ind. 140 (excl. syn.) ; 



Brandis For. Flo. 556. 



I have followed Triinen in considering this palm to be identical with Phamix farinifera, 

 Roxb. He says in Vol. IV, 327 of his Flora of Ceylon ; " Beccari will not allow that Gaertner's 

 P. pusilla could have been this plant (P. farinifera), as he thinks it does not grow in the parts of 

 Ceylon in possession of the Dutch in Hermann's time ; indeed, when I first recorded the plant, 

 I had seen it only from Anuradhapura, and therefore Beccari has supposed it to be very rare in 

 Ceylon ; but now I find it to be universal in the sandy forests of the north, all the coast-towns of 

 which were held by the Dutch at the end of the seventeenth century. As for the character, 

 Beccari finds in Gaertner's figure of having deeper and larger arms to the bifid excavation in the 

 endosperm, which thus more resembles P. seylanica ; this is too variable (as seen in Beccari's 

 own figures) to be of much value. This never forms any stem whatever, and Gaertners' specific 

 name is thus very characteristic." 



Names. — Inchu (Geylon) ; Eethie (Tarn.) ; Ohiruta-itu (Tel.) ; 

 Eentha (Mai) 



Description. — Shrubby ; stem very short, stoloniferous, entirely 

 enveloped in the sheaths of the leaves that it is never seen ; the 

 whole appears like a large round bush. Leaves pinnate ; petiole 

 with one or more pairs of spines ; leaflets subopposite, 4-farious, 

 sword-shaped, much pointed, rigid, smooth, of a pale green. 

 Spathes axillary, one-valved, concave on the inside, this concavity 

 being bordered by two sharp edges, convex on the outside, there 

 splitting longitudinally, leathery, smooth, withering. Spadix 8-12 

 inches long, erect, much branched ; branches simple, spreading in 

 all directions. Male flowers : calyx small, slightly 3-toothed ; 

 petals 3, oblong, rigid, white. Filaments six, very short, inserted 

 into a fleshy globular receptacle. Anthers oblong, erect. Female 

 flowers not on the same plant ; calyx like the calyx of the male 

 flower. Petals 3, orbicular, concave, equal, rigid, lasting. 

 Ovaries 3, only one increasing in size, ovate, each having a short 

 recurved style. Stigma simple. Ripe berry h inch long, of a 

 dull purple black, of the size of a large French bean ; pulp sweet 

 and mealy. Seed cartilaginous, of the shape of the berry, grooved 

 longitudinally, as in the Date, pretty smooth, brown outside, light 

 greyish, white within, with a small elevation on the middle of the 

 back, under which is an oblong pit containing the embryo. 



