FLORA VITIENSIS. 279 
VI. Sagus, Rumph. Amb. vol. i. p.72; Endl. Gen. n. 1741. Flores monoici, in eodem spadice 
ramoso, absque spatha communi co incompletis vaginato, in amentis compressis distichis, 
bractea et bracteola cupularibus cincti. Fl. 9: Calyx 3-denticulatus. Corolla 3-petala, Stamina 
6 v. 12; filamenta compressiuscula, basi dilatata ; anther lineares, erectee. Ovarii rudimentum 0. 
Fl, 9: Calyx 3-denticulatus. Corolla campanulata, 3-fida. Staminum urccolus 6-dentatus, antheris 
effoctis, sagittatis. Ovarium 3-loculare. Stigmata 3, subulata, connata, Bacca squamis retrorsis 
loricata, l-sperma. Albumen ruminatum. Embryo supra fossam umbilicalem dorsalis.—Palmz 
caudice crasso, mediocris altitudinis, intus molli, rubella; frondibus terminalibus robustis, pinnatis, 
subcrispis, petioloruam basibus margine in fibris fissilibus, spadicibus magnis inter frondium bases 
pendulis, ramosis, perennantibus ; floribus fauscescentibus, coriaceis, persistentibus ; fructibus strobili- 
formibus, nitidis, fuscis v. castaneis, parce flavescenti-carnosis, seminibus durissimis.—Celococcus, 
Herm. Wendl. in Bonplandia, 1862, p. 199. 
Dr. George Bennett, of Sydney, found a Sago Palm on Rotuma, north of Viti, which may possibly be 
identical with the following species, but as no specimens seem to have beeu preserved, this point is alto- 
gether doubtful. 
1, S. Vitiensis, Herm. Wendl. in Appendix to Seem. Viti, p. 444 (Tab. LXXX.) ; baccis 
maximis, albumine equabili depresso-globoso, fovea rotundata magna reniformi a basi usque in 
medium et supra depressa excayato, embryone subverticaliimCewlococcus Vitiensis, Herm. Wendl. 
in Bonplandia, 1862, p. 199.—Nomina vernac. Vitiensia, “ Sogo” et “ Niu Soria.”—In swamps, 
Viti Levu (Seemann! n, 658), Vanua Levu, and Ovalau. 
The Niu soria or Sogo is a genuine Sago-palm, growing in swamps on Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, 
and Ovalau, and was discovered by Mr. Pritchard and myself when on our first visit to Chief Kuru- 
duadua. By asking the natives respecting the various Palms of the islands, they described one which 
I was led to consider as the sago-yielding tree, and hence made inquiries at all the places we called, 
but did not obtain a sight of it until we reached Taguru, on the southern coast of Viti Levu, and thence 
westward it was encountered in abundance. Fine groves, several miles in extent, were seen by us on the 
various branches and deltas of the Navuariver. It was afterwards ascertained to grow on Ovalau; and 
Mr. Waterhouse, when accompanying Colonel Smythe, found an extensive grove of it on the north-eastern 
parts of Vanua Levu. The natives of Ovalau term the Palm Niu soria, those of Viti Levu, Sogo (pro- 
nounced ‘*Songo’’); the latter name reminding one of “ Sago”’ or “‘ Sagu,” by which some species of Sagus 
are known in other islands inhabited by the Papuan race; and rendering the discovery of this Palm ethno- 
logically as interesting as it is important commercially, by adding another raw product to the export list of 
the islands, and botanically, by extending the geographical range of sago-yielding Palms 1500 miles further 
south-east than it was previously known to exist. The natives of Fiji were unacquainted with the wutritious 
qualities residing in the trunk, until Mr. Pritchard and myself extracted the sago from it. 
The Sogo grows in swamps, and the natives occasionally take advantage of the open places among the 
groves to plant taro, or even clear Sogo swamps for that purpose. The dimensions of the finest specimens 
were accurately measured. The largest trees felled were from forty to fifty feet high, and their trunks, in 
the thickest parts, from three feet nine inches to four feet four inches in circumference. The trunk is very 
straight, and densely covered with aerial roots, six to twelve lines long, all having the peculiarity of being 
directed upwards. The crown generally consists of about sixteen, living leaves in all stages of develop- 
ment, and there are mostly five or six dead ones still adhering to it. The pinnatifid leaves are of a dark 
green, seventeen feet long; whiist the leaflets, gracefully drooping at the tips, are from three and a half to 
four feet long, and three and a half inches broad. The petiole is covered with spines, which at its base are 
arranged in connected rows extending from side to side, and towards the top in horseshoe-shaped collec- 
tions. ‘The spines are brown, and from one and a half to two and a half inches long. When the tree has 
attained maturity there appears a terminal panicle about twelve feet high, and divided into twenty or more 
branches, These branches measure eight feet in length, and are again divided into about fourteen branch- 
lets (each averaging from fourteen to sixteen inches). The fruit, in outer appearance resembling an inverted 
pine-cone, is beautifully polished and of a yellowish-brown, much lighter than that of Sagus Rumphia, 
Mart. The Palm forms a prominent feature in the landscape, its foliage fluttering like gigantic plumes in 
the wind, and outbidding the Cocoa-nut in gracefulness of outline and movement ; the bold look of the 
flowers suddenly starting from the extremity of the trunk, and proclaiming, as it were by signal, that the 
202 
