THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 679 



same colour, with thickened bases, about a foot long, nodding, 

 sometimes branched. Fruit sessile on thickened knobs, first 

 yellowish, then red, and finally black purple, ^ inch long, 3-4 

 lines wide, mucronate, with the more or less split perianth at the 

 base. Seed ovoid, compressed, rather deeply furrowed on one side 

 up to the middle, and indistinctly so on the opposite side. 

 Embryo basilar. 



Habitat. — Aestuarial shores from Bengal to Burma and the 

 Andaman Islands ; forms a considerable portion of the impene- 

 trable woods which cover the Sunderbuns ; along the Sal win, 

 between Amherst and Moulmein ; Penang ; Siam ; Cochin China 



Flowers. — In March and April ; fruit ripens from June to 

 December. 



Uses. — The leaves are used in the Sunderbuns to make ropes 

 for tying boats and logs, and also for thatching. 



The stems of the smaller trees are used as walking sticks ; the 

 longer ones serve for rafters. 



The natives believe that snakes get out of the way of any 

 person having such a stick. 



Cultivation. — This palm is worth cultivation on account of its 

 elegance, and well adapted for bank scenery. 



Illustration. — Plate VII. The photograph, supplied by Major 

 Gage, shows a dense tuft of Phoenix ijaludosa. This species is not 

 likely to be confounded with any other. Its habit is less genuine 

 than in the others. In the big leaf in the foreground of the 

 picture the bifarious arrangement of the solitary and downwards 

 curved leaflets can be distinctty seen. 



PH02NIX ROBUST A, Hook, f., Fl. Brit. Ind., VI, 427 ; Woodrow in 

 Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc, XII, 526 ; Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., I, part 

 6,94; Brandis, Ind.- Trees, 645 ; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bomb., II, 801.— Phoenix 

 humilis, Royle, var. robusta, Becc. Males. Ill, 379. 



Name: Shelu (Mar.). 



Description. — Trunk 15-20 feet high, about 15 inches in 

 diameter, closely clothed and appearing tessellated from the 

 spirally arranged sheaths of fallen leaves. Leaves 3-5 feet long, 

 glabrous, shining, shorter, broader, thinner, and smoother than 



