The Palms of British East India. 343 



Sect. II. 



Folia pinnata. Spatha una completa. Flores dioici. Corolla 

 fl. faeminei convoluto-imbricata. Stamina 6-9, raro 3, hypo- 

 gyna. Pistilla 3, discreta. Bacca. Semen longitudinaliter 

 exaratum. 



Palmae perennantes, nanae et subacaules, frutescentes vel 

 arboreae, saepius gregariae et locos aridos amantes. Truncus 

 petiolorum cicatricibus vel basibus asper, rarius annulatus. 

 Petioli in/erne planiusculi depressi, superne compressissimi. 

 Rete panniforme, copiosum. Pinnae saepius fasciculatae, plu- 

 rifariae, rigidae, glaucescentes, conduplicatae vel conduplicato- 

 canaliculatae, venis diaphanis parallelo-striatae, rarius solita- 

 riae, bifariae, flaccidae, planiusculae ; infimae in spinis degene- 

 rantes. Inflorescentia axillaris. Spatha completa, coriacea, 

 bicarinata, primum antice aperiens, demum deoctrorsum et si- 

 nistrorsum bivalvis, postremum decidua. Spadix saepius exser- 

 tus, racemi in modum ramosus, pedunculo compresso. Spicae 



6-12 inches long, quite unarmed. Lamina palmate, laciniae (the fibres stout, often 

 persistent,) 10-15 induplicate, divided to the middle or a good deal below into 

 gradually acuminated rigid subsequently obtuse segments. The seeds seem to vary 

 a good deal, some being oblong, others round, some again as large as a small 

 marble, others not much bigger than a large pea, surface minutely wrinkled. 

 Raphe tolerably distinct. Chalaza palmately branched. Albumen horny, very 

 dense, with a good sized central cavity. Embryo near the base, narrow at the 

 radicular end. 



I have named it in honour of my friend Dr. Ritchie of the Bombay Medical 

 Service, to whom 1 was indebted while in Affghanisthan for constant contributions 

 of plants, and two valuable collections, one made between Candahar and Herat, 

 and Herat and Bamean via Maimunna and Toorkistan, and another made about 

 Pesh-Bolak and in the Khybur Pass. It is the only palm I met with in that country, 

 and is of extensive use for making cordage, etc.; it may therefore appropriately 

 commemorate an officer who was employed in Affghanisthan for a considerable time, 

 and who was more extensively acquainted with that country than any other officer, 

 excepting perhaps Major Pottinger. 



It appears to be distinguished from C. humilis by its unarmed petioles, the want 

 of a rete and the deeply divided laciniae of the leaves, which in C. humilis are 

 quite entire,* or at the most bifid, f 



» Desf. Fl. Atl. 2. p. 437. Syst. Veg. ed. Schult. 2. p. 1489. 

 t Mart. Palm. p. 248. 



2 Y 



