Acanthophcenix.~\ 
PALMiE. (I. B. Balfour.) 
385 
men homogeneous ; embryo basilar. — Palms of moderate height, with 
stems dilated at the base, leaves equally pinnate, with complete basal 
spiny sheaths, midrib grooved on each side above the attachment of the 
pinnae, strongly reduplicate many-nerved pinnae with scales and fine 
bristles on the under surface and midvein with a few bristles on the 
upper surface. Distrib. The only species. 
Leaves glaucous beneath. Fruit globose 1. A. rubra. 
Leaves silver white beneath. Fruit ovoid-oblong .... 2. A. crinita. 
1. A. rubra, Wendl. in FI. des Serves, xvi. 181. Palm 60 feet high. 
Leaf 6-12 feet long ; petiole glabrous, 2-4 in. long ; leaf-sheath 2|~4| 
ft. long, thickly covered with long brown-black spines ; pinnae slightly 
glaucous beneath. Spadix 2j-3^ft. long ; peduncle 6-10 in. long, like 
the lower part of the branches, armed with straight spines ; branches 
stout, subtended by linear-lanceolate bracts ; spathes 1^-2-g ft. long, 
with a few straight spines on the inside near the base. Perianth reddish- 
brown (Horne). Pruit globose, -J— f in. diameter, with a prominent 
ridge extending from the stigma to the base. Areca rubra, Bory, Toy. 
i. 306; Mart. Hist. iii. 180 (excl. descr. fruit). Calamus Verschafieltii. 
Hort. 
Mauritius, rare, Borne ! Also Bourbon. Young plants have dark green leaves with 
red veins. Palmiste rouge. 
2, A. crinita, Wendl. in FI. des Sevres, xvi. 181. Palm 50-60 feet 
high. Leaf 7-13 feet long ; petiole densely tomentose, 4-8 in. long ; 
leaf-sheath 2|-4| feet long, thickly covered with short brown bristles 
and spines ; pinnae silver-white beneath. Spadix 1-2 feet long ; pe- 
duncle 4-6 in. long, like the lower part of the slender branches armed 
with flexuose spines and clothed with dense brown tomentum ; spathes 
tomentose, 1-1^ ft. long. Perianth pinkish-white. Pruit ovoid-oblong, 
i- T 5 ¥ in. long, ^ in. broad, with a very slight swelling between the 
stigma and base. Areca crinita, Bory. Voy. i. 307. 
Mauritius, common in the forests. Also Bourbon. Young plants have pale 
yellowish-green leaves. Palmiste ep 'meux. 
6. DECKENIA, Wendl. 
Monoicous. Plowers in 3-flowered clusters, one female between 
and below two males, arranged spirally on the pendulous branches of a 
twice or thrice-branching spadix. Spadix shortly peduncled, slightly 
amplexicaul ; branches very slender, spiny at the base. Spathes 2, com- 
plete, densely covered with flexuose yellow black-tipped spines. Male. 
Perianth minute, the inner segments ovate, acute, valvate. Stamens 
9, connate, equal in length to the inner segments ; anthers globose. 
Budimentary pistil an angular trifid column. Pemale. Segments of 
perianth imbricate. Stamens represented by a minute toothed cup. 
Pruit ovoid-deltoid, greatly compressed ; stigma subbasilar; ncmsocarp 
fibrous ; endocarp crustaceous. Seed erect ; raphe with 3-5 branches, 
which ascend from the hilum and then spread over the surface ; albu- 
men homogeneous ; embryo erect, basilar. Dtstrib. The only Species. 
2 c 
