362 
The Philippine Journal of Science 
Urban in his “Symbolae” 4 (1903) 130 to Areca Catechu Linn. 
Notwithstanding the unusual form of the fruit of the var. porto- 
ricensis, there is no doubt about its belonging to Areca Catechu 
(in a wide sense), as the fruiting specimen is accompanied by 
spadices having female and male flowers. The male flowers are 
furnished with six stamens and conspicuous, 3-pointed, rudi- 
mentary ovary; the male flowers of the American plant not 
dilTering in that respect, in the slightest particulars, from those 
of the common A. Catechu of the Orient. As to the origin of this 
American variety the hypothesis of its direct importation into the 
New World from the Orient cannot be absolutely discarded, but 
I would observe that among the innumerable individuals of Areca 
Catechu seen by me in the regions where that palm grows pro- 
fusely, and where it presents numerous varieties, I have not seen 
a single plant having fruits approaching in shape to those of var. 
portoricensis, nor have I found any such plant mentioned in 
botanical works. However, the general shape of the fruit of 
A. Catechu var. portoricensis is so much like that of A. Catechu 
var. longicarpa and A. macrocarpa, both Philippine palms, that 
we are led to surmise that the American variety may have had 
a Philippine origin, even if it be not precisely identifiable with 
any of the actually known Philippine forms. Otherwise we may 
contemplate the possibility of the case of a sudden neogenesis, 
originated from changed ambient condition, during the acclimatiza- 
tion in the New World of a plant characteristic of the tropical 
regions of the Orient. 
Plate III 
Fig. 1. Areca parens Becc.; a, vertical section of the fruit; h, seed, side 
view; c, d, male flowers; e, section of a male flower, showing a 
petal and three of its six stamens, with the small rudimentary 
ovary among them. From Abellanosa 21712. 
2. Areca macrocarpa Becc. ; a, vertical section of the fruit, showing the 
dorsal or raphal side of the seed, entire; b, seed, side view; 
c, seed, vertical section. From Whitford and Hutchinson 9103, 
3. Areca camarinensis Becc.; a, vertical section of the fruit; b, seed, 
side view. From Aguilar llt268. 
4. Areca Ipot Becc.; a, vertical section of the fruit; b, seed, side view. 
From Elmer 9292 in Herb. Beccari. 
