CRUDE DRUGS. 



577 



Description. — Drupe superior, fleshy, ellipsoidal,' more or 

 less compressed, 3.5 to 4 cm. long, about 3 cm. broad; exter- 

 nally brownish-black, glabrous, wrinkled, with two faint lines 



FiG.^ 251. Saw palmetto (Serenoa serrulata): A, inflorescence of sinall flowers; B, 

 ■palmately veined leaf which is entire in the bud but later becomes tom^along -the -folds, 

 giving the appearance of ,a palmately divided leaf; C, fruiting branch -yrith some of the 

 'ovoid-oblong drupes. 



indicating the dorsal and ventral sutures, apex with a slight scar 

 from the remains of the style, base with a depressed stalk-scar 

 .3 to 5 mm. in diameter, sarcocarp yellowish-brown, fleshy, some- 

 what stringy, 1.5 cn\. thick; taste sweet and acidulous; endocarp 



37 



