384 
PALM-ffi. (I. B. Balfour.) 
[. Dictyosperma . 
to the endocarp on one side throughout its whole length ; raphe forming 
a loose network ; albumen ruminate ; embryo subbasilar. — Anon-spiny 
palm of moderate height, with equally pinnate leaves ; petiole with a 
complete basal sheath; pinnae strongly reduplicate at the base, 1- 
nerved, with a few scales beneath, the terminal pinnae confluent. Dis- 
t»ib_ The only species. 
1. D. alba, Wendl. in Linncea, xxxix. 181. Palm 40-50 feet high, 
with a stem 8-9 in. diameter, dilated at the base. Leaves 8-12 feet 
long ; petiole semiterete, 6-18 in. long, grooved down the face ; pinnae 
2|-3 feet long, 2-3 in. broad, lanceolate acuminate, cuneate at the 
base, widely reduplicate, with one prominent medial nerve, and 3 
lateral secondary nerves on each side, all bearing a few medially- 
attached scales, especially towards the base of the pinnae ; veins and 
margins of pinnae green or reddish. Spadix 2 feet long, with a very 
short often tomentose peduncle ; branches erect or slightly reflexed, 
6-18 in. long, very zigzag when young ; flowers often distichous at the 
base, of the branches ; spathes 1-lf leet long. Inner segments of male 
perianth J in. long, three times as long as the outer. Pruit ovoid- 
oblong, pointed, about \ in. long, purplish. Areca alba, Bory, Voy. i. 
306 ; Bojer , Sort. Maur. 305. 
Mauritius, common, Horne ! Balfour ! Seychelles, not indigenous, Horne ! 
Also Bourbon. In a plant from Round Island, Mr. Horne says one or two of 
the lower branches of the spadix are subtended by membranous bracts. Palmiste 
blanc. A very variable palm, of which the following are the principal forms, 
B. {Areca) rubra , Hort., sent by Mr. Home. This in its young state has darker 
green leaves, with primary veins and margins dark red, the redness disappearing 
very much in adult plants. Branches of the spadix longer and more reflexed 
than in the type. Palmiste rouge. 
B. (Areca) furfuracea , Hort, differs from the last by the tomentose character of 
the petiole and leaf-sheath of the young plant. 
Var. aurea, Balf. fil. Stem about 30 fept high, smaller and more slender than in 
the type. Leaves 4-8 feet long ; petiole 8 in. long ; leaf-sheath 1-2 ft. long ; pinnae 
1^-2 feet long, an inch broad ; secondary veins scarcely visible. Branches of the 
spadix rigidly erect, 9-1 1 in. long. Flowers half the size of those of the type. 
Fruit cylindrico-conic, f-f in. long. Young plants bright orange. Areca aurea , 
Hort. Rodriguez, common. Palmiste bon. 
5. ACANTHOPHCENIX, Wendl. 
Monoicous. Blowers in spirally-disposed 3-flowered clusters, 
slightly immersed in the branches of a twice-branching slightly droop- 
ing spadix, the female flower below and between two males. Spathes 
2. Male. Inner segments of the perianth valvate, linear, acute, two or 
three times the length of the outer. Stamens 12 or fewer, exserted ; 
filaments long, twisted ; anthers linear- sagittate. Rudimentary pistil 
elongated, deeply bifid. Female. Perianth-segments imbricate. Stami- 
nodes forming a minute ring. Fruit small, globose ; scar of the 
stigma subbasal ; mesocarp thin, fibrous ; endocarp crustaceous. Seed 
ascending, slightly compressed laterally ; branches of the raphe spreading 
from the hilum, and anastomosing on the opposite side of the seed ; albu- 
