34 



been taken as a somewhat exaggerated statement, for the cabbage 

 tree had not been collected from or otherwise mentioned as 

 growing in the nearly one thousand miles of coast line extending 

 from Saint x^ndrews Bay in Florida to the mouth of the Rio 

 Grande in Texas. Perhaps the extensive engineering operations 

 along the lower Mississippi, a half century ago, exterminated the 

 more conspicuous growths of this palm. The engineers in charge 

 of the work there were, evidently, not botanists, else some record 

 of the occurrence there, in addition to Schott's, would have found 

 its way into print. 



We now know that Arthur Schott's record should have been 

 taken as an interesting clue for investigation. The clue was 

 not followed up; but after a lapse of three-quarters of a century, 

 this palm was rediscovered by mere accident. On the tenth day 

 of last x'\pril, while driving from Point aux Herbes on Lake Pont- 

 chartrain to New Orleans, Edgar T. Wherry and the writer unex- 

 pectedly came upon a grove of palms which evidently represent 

 the kind referred to by Arthur Schott in the above quotation. 

 To meet with erect-stemmed palms far out of the known range 

 of any such plant was a great surprise. A first glance at the 

 trees naturally suggested the cabbage-tree {Sabal Palmetto). 

 A second glance indicated something quite different. This palm, 

 although resembling the cabbage-tree in habit, is really related 

 to the blue-stem {Sabal minor). As this discovery was the direct 

 outcome of the interest and cooperation of Mr. Charles Deering, 

 this palm may be known as: 



Sabal Deeringiana Small, sp. nov. Tree up to 4 m. tall, the 

 stout trunk often 1-2 m. usually soon devoid of the leaf-bases: 

 leaves spreading in all directions, 2-3 m. long: petioles longer 

 than the blades, stout; blades ample, suborbicular, deep-green, 

 coarsely many-ribbed, the midrib stout, extending high up into 

 the flat blade, the segments longer than the palm of the blade, 

 filiferous: spadix erect or ascending, conspicuously elongate, up 

 to 5 m. long, the branches numerous, short: sepals very broad, 

 fully I mm. long: petals white, strongly involute, ovate, broadly 

 so when flattened out, 2.5-3 "^"i- long: stamens 2~2-S "^"^- long; 

 filaments lanceolate or subulate-lanceolate; anthers ovoid, much 

 shorter than the filaments, usually about i mm. long: drupes 

 much depressed, 10-13 mm. in diameter, black: seeds much-de- 

 pressed, 8-9 mm. in diameter, yellow until maturity, then be- 

 coming dark-brown. — Flat alluvial places, near Point aux Herbes, 

 along Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. 



