1688 CXLil; PALM^E. [Gocos. 



perianth very broad and coriaceous, .the outer segments ahout lin. diameter, 

 the inner rather smaller. Fruit ovoid, obtusely 3-angled, about lOin. diameter.—^ ' 

 Mart, ffi^t. Nat. Palm. ii. 123, t. 88 ; Gsertn. Fruot, t. 4, 5 ; Roxb. Oorom. PI. 



t. 73. ' . : ' 



Hab.: Common on the tropical coast ; but I have some doubts of it being truly indigenouk' ' ' 



Order CXLIII. PANDANACE^. 



Flowers dioecious, closely packed in dense spikes or heads, of which several in 

 «- terminal spike or raceme or rarely solitary with a leafy, ojr coloured bract under 

 ■each. Perianth none. Males consisting of numerous stamens covering the 

 rhachis, the filaments all distinct or more or less collected or united in olosterB. 

 ji-nthers oblong or linear, 2-eelled, the cells opening in longitudinal slits. 

 Females : Ovacjes numerous, sessile, covering the rhachis and often cohering or 

 connate in clusters or syncarps or all together at least at the base, each ovary 

 1-eelled, with 1 ovule erect from the base, or with numerous ovules superposed in 

 '2 rows on 2 or 8 parietal placentae. Stigma sessile on the apex of the ovary or , 

 ■of a thick conical style. Fruits drupaceous, densely crowded or more or less 

 ■connate in globular ovoid or cylindrical heads. Seeds solitary or numerous, with 

 ■a small embryo at the lower end of a fleshy or horny albumen. ^-Trees bushes or 

 tall climbers. Leaves undivided, in spires at the top of the stem, or disposed 

 ■along the branches. 



The above character applies only to the typical tribe limited to the Old World and ranging 

 over the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and islands of the Masoarene group, Malayan 

 Archipelago and South Pacific, the t'wo Australian genera, having the most extensive range 

 'within that area. 



The clusters into which the drupes in some species are united have been sometimes described 

 as many-oeUed drupes. It seem? however more conformable to received terminology to restrict 

 the term drupes to the single pyrenes resulting from the single ovaries, and if necessary to use 

 the term syncarp for the clusters of drupes when perfectly connate. — Benth. 

 Stems arborescent or shrubby, the branches terminating in a triple spire of 



long leaves. Ovules solitary ,.>..', 1. Panbanus. 



.Stems climbing, the branches leafy. Ovules numerous superposed in 2 rows 



on 3 parietal placentas 2. FREYCisETiAi 



1. PANDANUS, Linn. 



(From* a Malayan word meaning conspicuous.) 

 Male flowers in dense spikes, sessile or pedunculate in the axils of leafy or 

 ■coloured bracts, forming a terminal compound spike. Stamens either separate or 

 more or less united in clusters. Female flowers : Ovaries densely packed in a 

 globular or oblong head or spike, with 1 ascending ovule in each. Drupes 

 ■crowded or connate in a globular or cone-like head, often separable into clusters. 

 — Stem woody, usually arborescent and branching. Leavss long, coriaceous, 

 spreading, prickly on the edges and often on the midrib, generally closely inserted 

 towards tlae ends of the branches in 3 spiral series. 



The genus is widely spread over the tropical regions of the Old World, chiefly near the sea. 

 ■Of the four or five Queensland species one is common in a great part of the range of the genus, 

 ihe others appear to be all endemic. 



Sect. I. Keura. — Filaments connate in clusters. Stigmas peltate or reniform, sessile on the 

 flat convex or broadly conical apex of the ovaries. Drupes connate in clusters or rarely separate. 

 Filaments united in a column longer than the free part. 



Drupes connate in clusters, nearly flat on the apex. Male spike sessile 1. P. odoratissimiiS. 



Drupes all free. Other characters of P. od'oratissimus . .' . . . . 2. P. aqiiaticus. 



Drupes connate in clusters, each with a conical apex. Male spikes 



pedunculate 3. P. pedunculatus. 



Drupes fewer in each syncarp, and less connate in the upper part . 4. P. Solms-Lauhachii, 



Sect. II. Acrosti^ma. — Filaments free. Stigmas raised on the acute or acuminate apex 

 ■of the ovary or style. Drupes free or equally connate at the hase. 



Single Australian species. . _ jola. 



