THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 741 



^suits them very well ; loam should preponderate to the extent of 

 about two-thirds ; Mdien fully developed, some rotten cow-manure 

 maj^ be added with advantage. The seeds should be sown in a 

 similar compost and kept in a moist, gentle heat. The greatest 

 enemy of this palm is dry warm air, Dammer has found that the 

 plants do quite well in a cool room during winter. Young speci- 

 mens get easier accustomed to the air of a room than older ones. 

 The}^ requ.ire much water. The Dictyospermas are great favourites 

 on account of the beautiful colouring (red, j'-ellow) of the leaf-stalks 

 and nerves. 



DICTYOSPERMA ALBUM, Wendl., in Limitea XXXIX, 181 ; Balf ., 

 f , in Baker, Fl. Maurit & Peych, 384. Drude Palmse, 75. — Areca alba, 

 Eory Voy., I, 306 ; Willd., Spec. PI. IV, 596, n. 8 ; Poir, Encycl. Suppl. I., 

 441, n. 9; Sprang, Syst. Veg., II, 139, n 7; Mart., Hist. Nat. Palm, III, 

 176, t. 154, 155, fig. 2. — Areca hovboniea, Hort. — Sublimia palmicaulis, 

 Commers. Mss. — Ptychosperma album, Scheff., Natuurk. Tijdsch. Ned. 

 Ind., 32, 183. 



Names. — Weisser Netzsame (German). 



Palmiste blanc, Palmiste commun (French). 



Description. — A very variable plant. Stem 40-50 feet high, 

 8-9 inches in diameter, dilated at the base. Leaves 8-1 2 feet 

 long; petiole semiterete, 6-18 inches long, grooved down the face; 

 leaflets 2^-3 feet long, 2-3 inches broad, lanceolate, acuminate 

 cuneate at the base, widely i*eduplicate, with one prominent median 

 nerve, and 3 lateral, secondary nerves on each side, all bearing a 

 few medially attached scales, especially towards the base of the 

 leaflets ; veins and margins of leaflets green or reddish. 



Spadix 2 feet long, with a very short, often tomentose peduncle; 

 branches erect or slightly reflexed, 6-18 inches long, very zigzag 

 when young ; flowers often distichous at the base of the branches ; 

 spathes 1-1-^ foot long. Inner segments of male perianth \ inch 

 long, three times as long as the outer. 



Fruit ovoid-oblong, pointed, about ^ inch long, purplish. 



Habitat.- — Mauritius, common ; Seychelles, not indigenous, 

 Bourbon, 



DICTYOSPERMA ALBUM, Wendl., vai: aureum, Balf, fil. in Baker 

 PI. Maurit. and Seych., 384 — Areca aurea, Hort. 



Names. — Goldfarbiger Netzsame (German) . 

 Palmiste bon (French). 



Description. — Stem about 30 feet high, smaller and more 

 slender than in the type. 



Leaves 4-8 feet long ; petiole 8 inches long ; leaf-sheath 1-2 feet 

 long; pinnae 1^-2 feet long, 1 inch broad; secondary veins scarcely 

 visible. 



Branches of the spadix rigidly erect, 9-1 1 inches long. Flowers 

 half the size of those of the type. 



