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



base and anastomosing near the apex ; albumen deeply ruminate; 

 embryo basilar. 



Species. — 1. 



Distribution. — Seychelles. 



PHOENICOPHORIUM SECHELLARUM, Wendl. Illustr. Hort. XII, 

 433, Misc. 5 — Stevensonia grandifolia, Duncan, Oat. Hort. Maurit. 87 

 (name only) ; Baker, Fl. Maurit. & Seych. 388. — Astrocaj-yum pictum, C. 

 Koch. — A. aureo-pictum, Versch. — A. Borsigianum, 0. Kch. Berl. Wochen- 

 schr. 1859, 401. — Areca sechellarum, Hort. 



Names. — Stevensonia (usual name in gardens), Thief Palm. 

 Latanier feuille (French"). 

 Grossblattrige Stevensonia (German). 



Description. — Stem 40-50 feet high, very spiny when young, 

 less so when old. Petiole 9-18 inches long, glabrous, pale green, 

 convex below ; leaf-sheath 2-3 feet long, hoary, scaly and spiny ; 

 blade cuneate-obovate, bifid, oblique at the base, deeply laciniated 

 down the side, with incised segments \ primary veins prominent, 

 bordered with two secondary veinlets on each side, clothed with 

 a few medially-attached brown scales beneath. 



Spadix 3-6 feet long ; peduncle 1^-3 feet long, compressed at 

 the base; branches 1-1^ foot long. Lower spathes 15 inches long; 

 upper club-shaped, smooth, 2-3^ feet long. 



Fruit orange-red, ^-| inch long. Seed \ inch long. 



Habitat. — Seychelles : common in all the islands. 



Note : J. B. Balfour wants to retain the name "Stevensonia grandi- 

 folia" given to this plant by its discoverer (Duncan), and published 

 by him, though without description. He says : " The name Phoe- 

 nicophorium, subsequently given, and invented for the purpose of 

 commemorating the disgraceful fact of a specimen of this palm 

 having been stolen from Kew by a foreign employe, should surely 

 be suppressed." The present laws of nomenclature, however, seem 

 to be in favour of the name given by Wendland. 



De Kerchove explains the origin of the name 'Phoenicophorium ' 

 in this way : " ... nous devous retablir la verite des faits et reveler 

 la vraie etymologie de ce palmier. M. H. Wendland 1' aurait appele 

 Phoenicophorium (de (porn^, dattier, et (pdo^iov, objet vole), par 

 suite d'un vol commis a Kew dans les circonstances suivantes : M. 

 Ambr. Verschaffelt avait, en 1856, introduit k Gand la plante sous 

 le nom d' Astrocaryum aureo-pictun. Plus tard, M. Wendland 

 en vit trois pieds cultives au jardin de Kew sous le nom d' Areca 

 Sechellarum. II voulu en acheter un pour les collections de 

 Herrenhausen. Cette demande ne put etre accordee le jour meme. 

 Le lendemain, un des pieds avait disparu, et les autorites anglaises 

 ne purent, malgre leurs enquetes, apprendre ou il etait alle. M. 

 Wendland eut a coeur d'eclaircir ce mystere, et, a force de recherches, 

 il finit par decouvrir que la precieuse plante, volee par un employe 



