THE PHILIPPINE 
Journal of Science 
C. Botany 
Vol. Ill DECEMBER, 1908 No. 6 
THE PALMS OF THE BATANES AND BABUYANES ISLANDS. 
By 0. Beccari. 
( Florence , Italy.) 
PHOENIX Linn. 
Phoenix Hanceana Naudin var. philippinensis Beec. var. nov. 
Batanes, Sabtan Island, Bur. Sci. 37 1/Jf Fenix, June, 1907, growing along 
streams well up on the mountains, the specimen in fruit. The leaves are used 
by the natives for making raincoats. N. v., Vovavoy. 
Phoenix Hanceana Naudin was previously considered by me 1 to he only a 
variety of Ph. humilis Royle, and indeed it is difficult to find good characters in 
the reproductive organs for specifically separating the two, but apparently Ph. 
Hanceana differs from the various Indian forms of Ph. humilis (except perhaps 
from the variety robusta ) in its shorter and more robust stem, and its leaves with 
more approximate and, in their terminal part, more regularly arranged leaflets. 
It may be considered convenient to consider Ph. Hanceana as at least a geograph- 
ical species, as it occurs, with slight variations in its most important characters, 
along the shores of southern China, in Formosa, and in the most northern part of 
the Philippines. 
From wliat I can judge by inspection of the specimens at my disposal, the 
Philippine variety of Ph. Hanceana differs from the Chinese by having its perianth 
more distinctly and more deeply eyathiform and consequently covering a larger 
portion of the base of the fruit, and in the corolla slightly more than twice as 
long as the calyx. (In the Chinese form the perianth is shortly cupular and 
covers one-fifth of the entire fruit and the corolla is about twice as long as the 
calyx). In Ph. Hanceana from Formosa (var. formosana Becc.) the corolla 
is almost three times as long as the calyx, which is shortly cupular ; of this last 
variety I have not seen the fruit. 
Phoenix Hanceana var. philippinensis offers the following chief characters: 
the stem is given by the collector as 1 to 2 m high and 45 cm in circumference 
77640 
1 Malesia 3 : 392. 
339 
