474 The Palms of British East India. 



natives however have never taken to it, prefering the coir of 

 the cocoa-nut, and the toddy and sugar of Phoenix syl- 

 vestris. 



86. (2) A. Westerhoutii, (n. sp.) petiolis inermibus, pinnis 

 alternis bifariis. linearibus basi uni vel ex-auriculatis apice 

 exattenuato truncatis ssepius bilobis et varie dentatis. 



Habit.— Naning, Malacca Peninsula, Mr. Westerhout. 

 Penang. Mr. Lewes. Malayan names, Anowe kutaree, (Ma- 

 lacca); Langkup (Penang.) 



Descr.* — A palm of about the size of the preceding. Leaves ample, 

 linear-oblong in outline, 20 feet long, 10 feet across in the broadest 

 part ; rete as in A. saccharifera ; pinna sessile, about 5 feet in length, 3 

 inches broad, alternate or sub-opposite, solitary, bifarious, very spread- 

 ing with deflexed points, attenuate towards the base, the upper ones 

 alone auriculate at the lower side, coriaceous, bright green above, white 

 underneath and (with the petiole) scurfy towards the base ; margins with 

 irregular spinescent teeth ; apex prsemorse, dentate and erose, sometimes 

 bilobed. 



to every one who possesses lands, particularly such as are low, and near the 

 coasts of India, to extend the cultivation thereof as much as possible. The 

 palm wine itself and the sugar it yields, the black fibres for cables and cordage, 

 and the pith for sago, independent of many other uses, are objects of very great 

 importance, particularly to the first maritime power in the world, which is in a 

 great measure dependent on foreign states for hemp, the chief material of which 

 cordage is made in Europe. 



From observations made in the Botanic Garden, well grown, thriving trees 

 produce about six leaves annually, and each leaf yields from eight to sixteen 

 ounces of the clean fibres. 



In the same garden are now (1810) many thousand plants, and young 

 trees, some of them above twenty years growth, with trunks as thick as a stout 

 man's body, and from twenty to thirty feet high, exclusive of the foliage. They 

 are in blossom all the year ; one of them was lately cut down, and yielded about 

 1 50 pounds of good sago meal. (Roxb. op. cit.) 



* From an entire specimen of a young palm, procured from Naning by Mr. 

 Westerhout, two male spadices, and several specimens of female flowers and 

 fruits. 



