386 
PALMiE. (I. B. Balfour.) 
[DecJcenia . 
1. D. nobilis, Wendl. MSS. Palm 80-120 feet high, with a stem 
10-14 in. in diameter. Leaf 9-14 feet long ; petiole a foot long, pale 
green, smooth; leaf-s heath 3-6 feet long, usually spiny ; pinnae hairy 
beneath, bristly when young on both surfaces ; midrib yellow. Spadix 
2-6 feet long, slightly amplexicaul ; branches very slender, pendulous ; 
peduncle vertically compressed, much thickened at the base. Spathes 
seldom over a foot long. Perianth yellow, in. long. Pruit ± in. 
long, £ in. thick, black (Horne), straw-coloured when dried. 
Seychelles, now becoming scarce, Horne! Endemic. I bave to thank M. 
Wendland for the description of the fruit and seed. Chou palmiste. 
7. NEPHROSPERMA, Balf. fil. 
Monoicous. Flowers in 3-flowered clusters, one female between and 
below two males, spirally disposed and slightly immersed on the 
branches of a simply-branching long-peduncled spadix in the axil of a 
leaf. Peduncle compressed, not amplexicaul. “ Spathes 2, complete ; 
outer spiny ; three hairy bracts surrounding the spadix within.” (Horne) 
Male. Outer segments of perianth imbricate ; inner valvate, thickened, 
thrice as long as the outer. Stamens 40-50, included, connate at the base ; 
outer shorter, with adnate erect anthers ; inner with horizontal anthers. 
Budimentary pistil undivided. Female. Perianth-segments imbricate. 
Staminodes forming a cup with many short toothed lobes. Fruit 
globular, slightly flattened on one side; stigma subapical on 
the flattened side ; mesocarp fibrous ; endocarp thin, crustaceous. 
Seed ascending, reniform ; raphe spreading from the base and anasto- 
mosing at the apex; albumen densely ruminate; embryo basal. 
Histbib. The only species. 
1. N. Van Houtteana, Balf. fil . Palm 20-35 feet high, with a 
stem 4-6 in. diameter. Leaf 5-7 feet long ; petiole under a foot 
long, green, smooth ; leaf-sheath 1^-2^ feet long, woolly and sparsely 
spiny, with thin coriaceous edges ; blade unequally pinnate ; pinnae 
3- 3| feet long, glabrous ; broad segments alternating irregularly with 
narrow ones, the latter with a single primary vein ; veins bearing a few 
scales towards the base beneath ; terminal segments confluent. Spadix 
4- 8 feet long; peduncle 3-5 i feet long; branches 2^-3£ feet long, 
compressed at the base. “ Basal spathe attached to the stem.” (Horne) 
Fruit orange-red, about in. long. Oncosperma Yau Houtteana, 
Wendl. MSS. 
Seychelles ; not uncommon in open places and by the side of streams, up to 
1000 feet, Kirlc ! Horne ! Endemic. 
8. HO SCHEMA, Wendl. 
Monoicous. Flowers in 2-flowered clusters, one female below and 
slightly on one side of one male, spirally arranged on the very slender 
