382 
palmjs. (I. B. Balfour.) 
[. Latania . 
broad, arising singly or in clusters of 2-3 on each branch. Perianth 
in. long. Stamens 20-30. Budimentary pistil a triquetrous 
column, shorter than the stamens. Female spadix 3-5 feet long, with 
1-4 branches bearing usually solitary spikes. Staminodes forming a 
minute cup with 6-8 teeth. Drupe obovoid, slightly trigonous, 2 in. 
long, 1| in. broad ; pyrenes oblong, l-|-lf in. long, f in. broad, the con- 
vex surface marked by many hard prominences and a medial ridge 
continued from the base to form a prominent apical crest and thence 
passing a short way down the inner face and ending abruptly ; on each 
side also a deep groove separates the apical crest from a sharp process, 
whence one or more ridges run downwards. Seed with a light brown 
testa. L. aurea, Duncan , Cat. Ilort. Maur. 52 (name only.) 
Rodriguez, abundant over the island, Balfour ! Endemic. 
3. HYOPHORBE, Ghertn. 
Monoicous. Flowers superposed in linear spirally-arranged 3-7- 
flowered clusters on the branches of a compound spadix, the females 
1 or 2 at the base of the cluster. Spathes many, distichous, imbri- 
cated. Tnner segments of the perianth valvate, twice as long as the 
outer. Male eloweb. Stamens 6, included ; filaments connate at the 
base. Budimentary pistil a triquetrous or conical column, shorter than 
the stamens. Female. Stamens represented by a cup with 6 teeth. 
Fruit a purplish drupe ; scar of the stigma subbasal ; mesocarp suc- 
culent and fibrous ; endocarp chartaceous. Seed solitary, ascending ; 
albumen homogeneous ; raphe branching, but not anastomosing ; em- 
bryo subapical or medial. — Palms of considerable height, the stem 
often very thick, the petiole subterete on the back, grooved or flat on 
the face, with a large complete basal sheath, the leaves pinnate with 
slightly reduplicate subopposite pinnae. Disteib. Confined to the 
Mascarene group ; only these three species known. 
Pinna) with prominent lateral nerves ; no yellow line on 
"back of petiole. 
Male spadix laxly branched ; seed globose, f-Li in. long 1 . H. indica. 
Male spadix, subfastigiately branched ; elliptical seed 
in. long 2. H. amaricaulis. 
Pinnae with no prominent lateral nerves ; a yellow line 
on back of petiole 3. H. Verschaffeltii. 
3 . H. indica, Gcertn. Fruct. ii. 186. Palm 40-50 feet high, with 
a slender cylindrical tapering stem 4-6 in. diameter. Leaf-sheaf cylin- 
drical ; petiole 1-2| ft. long ; pinnae in 40-60 pairs, lanceolate, acumi- 
nate, 2 feet long, 2\ in. broad ; upper surface with a prominent central 
and two lateral veins ; under surlace with several secondary veins also 
slightly prominent, all clothed towards the base with linear white 
twisted fimbriated scales. Spadix laxly branched ; peduncle 3-6 in. 
long. Perianth white or slightly yellow. Rudimentary pistil of male 
flower a triquetrous column dilated at the base and pyramidal at the 
tip. Fruit pyriform. Seed elliptico-globose, f— H hi. l° n g> with the 
