THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 929 



bearing usiially solitary spikes ; staminodes forming a minute cup 

 Avith 6-8 teeth. 



Fruit a drupe, obovoid, sliglitlj^ trigonous, 2 in dies long, 1 J inch 

 broad ; pyrenes oblong, 1 i-l f inch long, ^ inch broad, the convex 

 surface marked by many hard prominences and a median ridge 

 continued from the base to form a prominent apical crest and 

 thence passing a short way down the inner face and ending 

 abruptly ; on each side also a deep groove separates the apical crest 

 from a sharp process, whence one or more ridges run downwards. 

 Seed with a light brown testa. 



Habitat. — Rodriguez ; abundant over the island. 



Cultivation in India.— This palm is of slow growth in this 

 climate, but bears full exposure well. 



Uses. — Of the beautifully marked wood walking sticks are 

 made. 



BOBASSUS, Linn. Gen. Nat. 1220. 



[Prom the Greek ' Borassus, ' the cover surrounding the palm- 

 fruit ; ' Bora, ' food for animals ; according to Brande ' Bor6,ssus ' 

 means the skin of the date, whilst Hamilton states that it means 

 the spathe common to most palms.] 



Gaertn. Fruct. I. 21, t. 8.— Roxb. Oorom. PI. I._71-72.— 

 Kunth Enum. PI. Ill, 221.— Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. Ill, 219, t. 

 108, 121, 162.— GriiF. Notul. Ill, 167.— Kurz For. Fl. II, 531.— 

 Drude Bot. Zeitg., 1877, 635, t. 5.— Luers. Botan. II, 338.— 

 Hook. Fl. Brit. India, VI, 481. 



A very tall dioecious palm ; trunk stout, unarmed. Leaves 

 terminal, fan-shaped, plicately multifid, sides of lobes induplicate 

 in vernation ; petiole spinous ; ligule short. Spadix very large, 

 interfoliar, simply branched ; peduncle sheathed with open spathes, 

 male with stout cylindric branches, that are densely clothed with 

 closely imbricating bracts, enclosing spikelets of flowers which 

 hence appear as if sunk in cavities of the branch ; female spadix 

 sparingly branched, bearing few scattered solitary flowers. Male 

 flowei's biseriate in small scorpioid spikelets enclosed in the bracts, 

 secund ; perianth glumaceous ; sepals and petals 3 each, imbricate ; 

 stamens 6, pistillode of 3 bristles. Female flowers larger, globose ; 

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