Hyophorbe.~\ 
palmj5. (I. B. Balfour.) 
383 
branches of the raphe diverging from near the hilum and a subapical 
embryo. H. Commersoniana, Mart. Hist. Palm. iii. 164, 1. 143, fig. 1, 154. 
Areca lutescens, Bory. Voy. ii. 296. Sublimia vilicaulis, Comm. MSS. 
Mauritius, in shady vallies, rare, Borne ! Barkly ! Also Bourbon. 
2. H. amaricaulis, Mart. Hist. Palm. iii. 309. Palm 60 feet 
high, with a bottle-shaped stem 15-24 in. diameter, near the base, 
slightly diminishing upwards to the base of the leaf-sheaths, and there 
abruptly constricted. Leaf-sheath cylindrical ; petiole 12-18 in. 
long, somewhat trigonous, grooved on the face ; pinnae in 40-60 pairs, 
lanceolate, acuminate, 18 in. long, 2 in. broad, with the central and one 
lateral vein on each side prominent on the upper surface, and several 
secondary veins also prominent beneath, which are clothed towards the 
base with subrigid adpressed lanceolate scales. Spadix with clustered 
branches ; peduncle a foot long. Rudimentary pistil of the male flower 
elongated, grooved. Fruit elliptic-oblong. Seed elliptical, iV-yV 
long, with the branches of the raphe diverging a little above the hilum 
and the embryo either subapical or medial. Areca speciosa, Hort. ; III. 
Hort. xiii. 462. Sublimia amaricaulis, Comm. MSS. 
Mauritius ; common in Round Island, Barkly ! Home ! Endemic. Balmiste 
Gargoulette. 
3. H. Verschaffeltii, Wendl. in III. Hort. xiii. t. 462-3. Palm 25-30 
feet high, with a stem 6-12 in. diameter at the base, bulging after a few 
feet, reaching 12-24 in. in the middle, thence contracting upwards, rarely 
again bulging. Petiole about 3 in. long, subterete, slightly grooved on 
the upper surface, with a yellow band extending from the upper part 
of the leaf-sheath along the face of the petiole to the extremity of the 
blade; pinnae in 30-50 pairs, acuminate, 20-30 inches long, an inch 
broad, the central vein alone prominent, clothed on the under surface 
towards the base with short linear scales, which are often subrigid at 
the base. Spadix with clustered branches ; peduncle 8-14 in. long. 
Perianth orange. Rudimentary pistil of the male flower elongated, 
conical. Fruit cylindrical-oblong. Seed subeylindrical, -A—l in. long, 
in. broad, the branches of the raphe diverging from the middle 
of the seed, the embryo medial and horizontal. Areca Yerschafleltii 
Hort. 
Rodriguez, on the hill slopes, not uncommon, Balfour l Endemic. Palmiste 
matron. 
4. DICTYOSPERMA, Wendl. 
Monoicous. Flowers in spirally -disposed 3-flowered clusters on the 
branches of a simply subfastigiately branched spadix, the female flower 
between and below two males. Male. Inner segments of perianth 
valvate, thickened, ovate-oblong, acute. Stamens 6, included. Rudi 
mentary pistil a terete column, shorter than the stamens. Female- 
Segments of perianth imbricate. Staminodes forming a ring with 
6 linear teeth. Fruit olive-like, persistent ; scar of the stigma exactly 
apical ; mesocarp fibrous ; endocarp slender, crustaceous. Seed attached 
