The Palms of British East India. 475 



Spadix curved-pendulous. Spathes fibrous, coriaceous, often split. 

 Spikes about level topped. Male flowers in pairs, without an interposed 

 rudimentary female, or solitary, with a rudimentary female. Calyx 

 cup-shaped. Petals oblong, fuscous-purple. Stamina numerous ; fila- 

 ments short, subulate ; anthers with mucronate or aristate ends. Pollen 

 hispid, with a longitudinal fold. 



Female flowers solitary, sessile. Sepals broad. Petals three, cordate, 

 concave, obtusely carinate. Ovarium roundish, trigonal, (angles opposite 

 the sepals,) depressed at the apex, and there marked with three lines 

 running from the angles to the stigmata, which are three, tooth-shaped, 

 and connivent, so as to form a cone. 



Fruit roundish, about the size of a small apple, with a depressed 

 three-lobed trigonal vertex, terminated by the sphacelated stigmata, sur- 

 rounded at the base by the perianth, 2-3 celled ; outer substance thick, 

 fibrous-fleshy. Seed separating with the thick gelatinous-cellular, en- 

 docarp, black ; when three convex-bifacial. Embryo oblique about the 

 centre of the dorsal face of the horny albumen. 



Not having seen this palm growing, I am unable to say 

 any thing regarding its habit. The chief difference from A. 

 saccharifera is in the leaves. A obtusifolia, Bl., has the 

 petioles furnished with marginal aculei. 



The Langkup of Penang may probably be distinct, the 

 pinnae being smaller and more truncate, the branches of the 

 fruit spadix spreading, short, and the fruit larger and more 

 oblong. 



I am not aware of its being applied to any use. I have 

 Mr. Western out's authority for stating it to be quite local, 

 being only found in one place, although there abundant. 



87. (3) A. Wightii, (n. sp.) sobolifera, trunco humili 3-8 

 pedali, petiolis inermibus, pinnis alternis linearibus basi bi- 

 auriculatis (auricula inferiore maxima) apice attenuato erosis 

 inaequaliter bilobis, spadicis ramis subfastigiatis, fl. faem. 

 staminibus sterilibus pluribus, semine venoso, embryone 

 supra medium. 



Habit. — Dense forests, Hills about Coimbatore, Dr. 

 Wight. 



