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16 ON THE PHCENIX OF THE HONGKONG FLORA.
differed entirely by its cylindrical caudex, 2-6 feet high, from P.
acauUs ; whilst P. paludosa is described and figured by Griffith * as
growing in dense tufts, with slender annulate trunks, 12-15 feet high,
and a graceful diffuse habit, and is besides known by the embryo being
placed at the base of the seed, near the hilum, and not, as in the
Chinese plant, in the middle of the dorsal surface of the albumen. I
was disposed to regard it as probably different from any of the Indian
species, but nearest to P. silvestrls, E.oxb.
I had then never seen it with fruit other than of a dull orange or
vitelline colour, in which state it may even be met with exposed for
Scde in the streets of Macao, wliere it is called " Areca de mato," and
eaten by the little boys, who do not seem to be repelled by its astringent
inky flavour. It is probable thnt it does not habitually ripen its drupes
here, or else that these are nnich sought after by birds ; for, though
common on the bare sterile sunny slopes of Hongkong, it was not till
the summer of this year that I procured spadices laden with fully
mature drupes ; in which state they are quite black and glossy, and
with a very agreeable, sweet, and farinaceous, though rather scanty
pulp. A renewed comparison of the specimens with tlie characters of
Eoxburght and Griffith proves the Chinese Palm to be referable to
P . furiuifera, Roxb. That author's character is as usual very accurate,
except tliat I do not notice any elevation over the cavity in which the
embryo is lodged, and that more than a single pair of the lower pinnae
are reduced to spines. Whether the Anamese P. pusilla. Lour., be
identical is as yet uncertain.
The species is dispersed over a wide geographical area, being met
with on both the western and eastern coasts of the Indian peninsula,
extending to a yet undetermined limit along the east coast of China,
and, if Jundiuhn's assertion t that it was introduced thence into the
Buitenzorg Garden be reliable, occurring also in Japan. Drs. Hooker
and Thomson § mention it as a native of Ceylon, but probably through
an eiTor in determination, as P. nilvedfls is the only Singhalese species
recorded by Dr. Thwaites^.H
I may remark, that though this plant abounds along the coast, and
* Palms of Brit. India, 141. t. 229 E.
t 'Flora Indica,' iii. 785.
X Quoted by Miquel, Fl. lud. Batav. iii. 63.
§ ' Flora Indica,' Introd. Essay. 120.
II
Enum. n. Zevlan. 329.