Silver Thatch Palm 



^35 



yond the middle into numerous narrowly lanceolate acuminate segments; they are 

 yellow-green and shining on the upper side, silvery-white beneath, at least when 

 young; their stalks are slender and about as long as the blades, expanded below 

 into fibrous sheaths which remain attached to the trunk after the leaves have 

 fallen away; the large panicles of flowers are short-stalked and borne among the 

 leaves, usually shorter than the leaf-stalks, their branches more or less flattened, 

 their spathes membranous; the flower-stalks are from i to 3 mm. long, consid- 

 erably thickened in fruit. The small white flowers are perfect, with a cup- 

 shaped, 6-lobed perianth, usually 9 stamens with subulate filaments, and a i-celled 

 ovary. The fruit is black, globose, 12 mm. in diameter, or less; the nearly globu- 

 lar seed is brownish. 



It is also known as Brittle thatch; its wood is soft with a thin, hard rind. 



Its leaves are extensively used in the Bahamas, being split into narrow bands 

 and these woven into baskets, ropes and mats, the fiber being strong and durable. 



Fig. 102. — Silver Thatch, Culebra, Porto Rico. 



