The Palms of British East India. 77 



still smaller ones interspersed with small prickles. Pinniferous part 

 (which is 3-4 feet long) armed with stout clawed prickles along the 

 centre of the under face, a few others being added about the margins. 

 Pinna equidistant, linear, about thirteen inches long, seven lines 

 broad, cirhoso-acuminate, 1-carinate above ; carina and a lateral vein 

 on either side bristly towards the apex, midvein of the under surface 

 with a few smaller bristles : margins rough with minute bristle teeth. 



Male Spadix supra-decompound, more slender than the female ; 

 Branches a span long. Spathes more membranous, especially about 

 the limbs. Spikes scarcely more than an inch long, slender, very 

 flexuose, spreading or recurved, sometimes scorpioid, arising from 

 a cartilaginous base opposite the ends of their spathes. Bractea 

 with an acute spreading limb. Cup very shallow, almost wanting 

 anticously, pOsticously broadly emarginate and sub-bicarinate. 



Flowers oblong-ovate, exactly distichous. Calyx with a broad car- 

 tilaginous base, divided to the middle* into three broad rather acute 

 segments. Corolla about twice as long, in bud ovate- conical, divided 

 almost to the attenuate base into three lanceolate- ovate segments. 

 Stamina shortly monadelphous ; filaments (free) subulate, about half 

 the length of the petals ; anthers ovate-sagittate, yellow. Rudiment 

 of the Pistillum large, of three oblong bodies like abortive carpel 

 leaves. 



Female spadix 5-6 feet long, decompound, nodding. Peduncle adnate 

 to the next sheath, plano-convex, armed on the convex face, chiefly 

 along centre, with broad hooked prickles, along the edges with 

 spreading subulate middling sized spines, the armature is continued 

 above this in the shape of hooked prickles which gradually encroach 

 on the surface of the peduncle, so that the apex has the whole surface 

 armed. A linear, coriaceous, entire or split spathe, brown inside, 

 whitish outside, at the base of each branch ; the lowest about a foot 

 long, bicarinate, carina armed except towards the apex with stoutish 

 prickles, subulate from an oblique bulbous base. Remaining spathes 

 diminishing in size gradually, all unarmed, sometimes split and lacera- 

 ted, subsequently the tubular parts alone remain. Branches of the 

 spadix longer a good deal than the internodes, bearing many filiform 

 spreading, flexuose spikes, 2-4 inches in length, surrounded at the 

 cartilaginous base by a whitish scale- shaped annular bracte. 



