370 A MISSION TO VITI. 
The inflorescence never breaks out below the crown, as it 
does in the Niu sawa (Kentia? exorrhiza, Wendl.). The 
spadix is three feet long, stiff and very straight, bearing 
numerous minute hermaphrodite flowers, of a brownish- 
yellow colour. The fruit is perfectly round, about half 
an inch in diameter; and, when quite matured, it has 
exactly the colour of a black-heart cherry, the outside 
having a slight astringent taste. The seeds germinate 
freely, and out of a handful thrown carelessly into a 
Wardian case in Fiji, more than thirty had begun to 
grow when they reached New South Wales, where they 
were taken care of in the Botanic Gardens, and will 
duly be distributed amongst the various establishments 
forming collections of rare and beautiful palms—for 
such this species certainly is. 
The Niu sawa (Kentia? exorrhiza, H. Wendl.) is a 
pinnatifid palm of considerable beauty, of which there 
is a characteristic sketch, representing the vegetation of 
the Rewa river, in ‘The Narrative of the United States 
Exploring Expedition.’ This palm is found all over 
Fiji, ascending mountains to the height of two thousand 
feet. Mr. Charles Moore, of Sydney, met with it in New 
Caledonia; and there is reason to believe that it is also 
found in the Tongan group, where, as in Fiji, it is known 
by the name of “ Niu sawa,” I am told; “ sawa,” signi- 
fying “red” in Tonguese (and having no meaning in 
Fijian), being doubtless given on account of the fruit, 
which merges from bright orange into red. This palm 
is remarkably straight, and often more than sixty feet 
high. The trunk is unarmed, smooth, and of a whitish 
colour; it is a couple of feet above the base, from two 
