Areca,] 



86. PALM/E. 



339 



1. ARECA, Linn. 



. Stems simple, annulate. Leaves pinnate, unarmed. Spathes solitary. 

 Spadices branched, lax, pendant. Flowers monoicous, on the same 

 inflorescence, sessile. Male flowers many, minute. Sepals 3. Petals 

 3 valvate. Stamens 3 or 6, filaments short, anthers linear. Female 

 flowers much larger than the males. Calyx of 3 sepals, imbricate. 

 Petals 3, imbricate, tips valvate; perianth accrescent. Ovary 1- 

 eelled ; ovule erect. Fruit-ovoid; albumen ruminate, embryo basilar. 



A. Oatechu, Linn. Sp. PI. 1189 ; Fl. Br. I. 6. 405 ; Brandis For. Fl. 

 551 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. Suppl. 95. Supdri or Betelnut Palm ; 

 Fung, M. ; Adiki, K. 



A native of Cochin China. Cultivated in the hot regions of Asia 

 and the islands of the Malay Archipelago. Cultivated throughout 

 the presidency, but nowhere so abundantly as in the southern talukas 

 of North Kanara (Sirsi and Siddapur). Fl. K. S. Fr. 0. S. A slender 

 elegant palm. Stems grey, smooth, shining, 80 ft. high by 13-15 in. in 

 diameter, annulate with raised rings not quite horizontal, alternately 

 inclined to opposite sides. Wood used for a variety of purposes, walking 

 sticks, scaffolding poles, water channels, spear handles, &c. The sheaths 

 of the leaves are used for a variety of purposes, amongst others they are 

 made into hats stitched with kittul fibre and worn by some castes 

 of Hindus on the MalaMr Coast, also used for writing on. The seeds are 

 turned and necklaces, &c., made from them. The principal use of the 

 seed, however, is for chewing with lime and Piper Betel leaves. 



2. PINANGA, Blume. 



Erect, annulate-stemmed palms. Leaves pinnate with the upper 

 leaflets confluent. Spadices from the axils of fallen leaves, andro- 

 gynous ; spathe solitary ; flowers 3 together : a female between 

 two males. Male flowers triquetrous. Sepals acute, keeled, not 

 imbricate. Petals ovate, valvate. Stamens 6 or more, anthers sub- 

 sessile, basifixed, erect. Female flower much smaller, ovoid or 

 globose. Sepals and petals orbicular, broadly imbricate. Ovary 1- 

 celled, stigmas 3 ; ovule basal, erect. Fruit ovoid, pericarp fibrous. 

 Albumen ruminate, embryo basilar. 



p. Dicksonii, Blume Kumph. 2. 85 ; Fl. Br. I. 6. 409. Areca BicJc- 

 sonii, Boxb. FL Ind. 3. 616 ; Griff. Palms Brit. I. 153. t. 231. 



Western Ghdts on the Nilgiris and Travancore hills, altitude 2500 ft. In 

 the evergreen forests near the Gairsoppah and Mlkund Ghats of North 

 Kdnara, gregarious and locally abundant. 



A very slender, smooth, green-stemmed palm, stems 20 feet high by 



1 to 1'25 inch in diameter. Agfees well with the description of P. Dich^ 

 sonii, in the Fl. Br. I., except that it is soboliferous, the stem nearer 1 than 



2 inches in diameter, and, there are no staminodes in the female flower. 

 Flowers red in the spathe before it opens, also quite glabrons. Flowers at 

 different times throughout the year. The stems are used for making cages 

 to contain road metal on the Gairsoppah ghat road of North. Kanara. 



