64 The Palms of British East India. 



slender bristles united to each other high up so as to form a ring, these 

 bristles, are firm and thorny, white below where united, above black. 

 These two whorls have an ascending direction, and cross the whorl 

 of deflexed stout spines. The spaces between the whorls generally- 

 choked with foreign bodies or occupied by ants. Petioles flagelli- 

 ferous, part below the pinnae 1^-2 feet long, flattened, somewhat trian- 

 gular, armed below with bands or lines (generally complete) of stout 

 thorns, above of small bristles. In the pinniferous part, which 

 is about six feet long, the under flattish face presents the usual 

 clawed thorns, the upper angular face unequal incomplete bands of 

 short tooth- shaped bristles confluent at the base. Pinnce equidistant, 

 generally regularly alternating, linear, about twelve or thirteen inches 

 long, an inch broad, subulate-acuminate : above with a central bris- 

 tle-bearing carina, below with three veins bearing bristles ; margins 

 rough with bristly teeth. 



Spadix about two feet long, or more, erect, axillary, adhering 

 as usual to the next sheath; about three inches from the axilla 

 presenting two spathes, which are somewhat two-keeled, and not 

 very concave, armed on the back by lines of stout bristly prickles : 

 the uppermost spathe is rather the largest, about a span long ; the 

 sheaths are of considerable length, similarly armed. The peduncle 

 itself is unarmed. Branches ascending, naked at the base, 4-6 

 inches long, much divided, divisions rather spreading suffulted by an 

 inconspicuous short brownish spathe with a rather long lanceolate 

 acute limb. Spikes very numerous, each scarcely more than an inch 

 long, chesnut-red, each suffulted by a similar but smaller spathe. 



Flowers very numerous, about thirty-five to each spike, (of which 

 there are about twelve to the lower divisions of the lower branches,) 

 very minute, exactly distichous. Bractea amplectent, with a short 

 rather deflexed limb ; cup nearly entire, shorter than the bractea. 

 Calyx cup-shaped of the same texture as the cup, three times longer 

 than it, obscurely three- toothed. Corolla (in bud) twice as long 

 as the calyx, depressed at the summit, divided to the base into 

 three oblong segments. Stamina 6. A large oblong rudiment of a 

 Pistillum* 



* These parts in the specimen are generally destroyed by insects, and the calyx 

 generally is also more persistent than the corolla. 



