272 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIII. 



Fruiting perianth not at all or \qvj slightly accrescent, broadly 

 c^-athiform, abont ^ inch in diameter at the mouth, attenuate beloM' ; 

 corolla by ^ longer than the calyx, petals with a stout broadly trian- 

 gular opaque point. Fruit 1 2/5 inch long (including the perianth), 

 ovate-elliptical, almost equally attenuate towards the two ends, 

 tei'minated by the hardened and connivent remains of the stigmas 

 which form a conical papilla ; pericarp broadly corrugate when drj^ 

 only about 1/12 inch thick, with a smooth surface finely but little 

 distinctly lineolate-venose ; mesocarp consisting of only one layer of 

 rigid fibres, situated immediately under the epicarp, as to the rest 

 pai'enchymatous, almost dr}^ and containing a few thin fibres ; endo- 

 carp ver}^ thin, brittle, smooth inside. Seed erect, ovate rotundate 

 at the apex, or with a slightly conical point, up to 4/5 inch long 

 and about ^ inch in diameter ; ramifications of raphe very distinct ; 

 albumen bonjr^ white -cerulescent, radiating from a central line ; 

 embrj^o basilar, situated in the direction of the axis, 1/6 inch long. 



Habitat. — Grows abundantly in Lord Howe's Island. The 

 palm prefers the plains or low hills, especially in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the sea, where the soil is more or less coralliferous 

 (ex Becc). 



Flowering and Fruiting Season. — In its native land the tree 

 ripens the fruit one year after the appearance of the flowers. 



Beccari tells us on the authorit}^ of Eiccobono that in the Botanic 

 Garden of Palermo the male flowers open in the first year, the 

 female ones in the second, and that the fruit ripens in the third year. 



Economic uses. — For the natives of Lord Howe's Island the seeds 

 of Howea Forsteriana as well as of Belmoreana form an impor- 

 tant article of export. 



Cultivation in Europe. — This palm is extensively grown in 

 European gardens. It is very ornamental, especially when young, 

 the leaves being gracefully curved and the petioles with their sheaths 

 showing a pleasant green. 



HOWEA BELMOREANA, Becc. Malesia T (1877), 66 ; Webbia IV 

 (1913), 165.— Gard. Ohron. Dec. 12th, 1885, 748 and March 17th, 1888. 

 332.— Hemsleyin Ann. of Bot. X (1896), 255.— Riccobono in Boll. Orto Bot. 

 di Palermo, V, fasc. 3-4 Decembre (1906), 120. — Grisehaehia belmoreana, H. 

 WendL & Dr. in Linnsea XXXIX (1875) 202 t. IV, f . 1 ; Drude & 

 Wendl. in Nachr. K. Gesellsch. Wiss. Goett. (1875), 58 ; Drude in Bot. 

 Zeitg. (1877), 636, t. 5, f . 14, 15.— Kerch. Les Palm. 325, t. IK.—Kentia 

 belmoreana, Moore and Mueller, Fragm. Phyt. Austr. VII (1870), 99 ; 

 Mueller Sec. Syst. Cens, Austr. PI. 201 (non Fragm. VIII. 234). Maiden in 

 Proc. Linn. Soc. New S. Wales, ex Gard. Ohron. Dec. 24th (1898), 449. 



Names.— English : Curly Palm, Belmore's Howea. 



German : Belmore's Lord Howe Palme. 



Description. — Smaller than Howea Forsteriana, stem smooth, 

 annulate. Leaves about 7 feet long (in cultivated specimens) 



