TRE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON, 74S 



Cultivation in Europe. — A genns of elegant stove palms. The 

 species thrive best in fibrous loam, leaf mould, and sand. Thorough 

 drainage and an abundant supply of water are important points in 

 their culture. Propagation is effected by seeds. 



Leaf-segments glaucous on the underside ... A. alexandroe. 



Leaf-segments green on both sides ... ...A. cunninghamii.. 



ARCRONTOPIKENIX ALEXANDRA, W. & Dr., in Linnjea, 

 XXXXTX, 212 ; Bailey, Queensl. Fl., V, 1675 — Ptychosperma alexandrce,. 

 F. Muell, Fragm. Phyt. Austr., V, 47, 213, t. 43, 44 ; Benth., Fl. Austr.,, 

 VII., 140. 



Names. — Alexandra Palm (English.) 



Alexandra Herrscherpalme (German). 



Description. — A fcall palm, stem attaining 70-80 feet. Leaves 

 several feet long ; rhachis very broad and thick, glabrous or slightly 

 scurfy; segments numerous, the longer ones 1^ foot long, ^-1 

 inch broad, acuminate and entire or slightly notched, green above, 

 ashy-glaucous or white underneath. 



Spathe 1^ foot long. Panicle when open above 1 foot long 

 and broad ; much branched, the rhachis more or less angular and 

 flexuose, the notches scarcely immersed. Male perianth 2-3 lines 

 long; the inner segments very often oblique, pale coloured; th© 

 outer segments about 1 line long, slightly imbricate. Stamens 

 usually 9 or 10, but varying from 6-14; filaments very short. 

 Female perianth about 2 lines long, the segments all broad, and 

 about equal in length. 



Eruit ovoid globular, 7-9 lines long. 



Habitat. — Queensland : Rockingham Bay, Mackay, and many 

 other tropical localities (Bailey). 



Illustration. — Plate LXXVIII represents two elegant, slender 

 stemmed specimens of the Alexandra Palm. Photograph by Mr„ 

 Macmillan in the Botanic Garden of Peradeniya. 



ARCHONTOPHCENIX CUNNINGHAMII, Wendl. & Drude, in Lin- 

 use, XXXIX, 214 ; Bailey, Queensl. Fl., V, 1676— Seafo7-thia elegans, Hook, 

 Bot. Mag. No. 4961, excl. fig. 9, 10, 11 {not om.Bx.)—Ptychospermct 

 Cunninghamii, Wendl. & Drude, in Bot. Zeitz. (1858), 346 ; Benth., Fl. 

 Austr., VII, 140. 



Names. — English : Cunningham's Seaforthia. . 



German : Cunningham's Herrscherpalme. 



Description. — Stem attaining a height of 60 feet, erect, slender, 

 annulate, dark green, almost glossy, crowned with a spreading tuft 

 of beautifully pinnate leaves. Leaves 8-10 feet long, petioles 

 sheathed at the base. Leaflets numerou.s, narrow-lanceolate, spread- 

 ing, 1-li foot long, several of them unequally bifid at the apex, on& 

 segment being much longer than the rest. 



