A very beautiful tree is the Amherstia, thus pictured at the time of its discovery. "The only plant...which struck us as remarkable was a tree twenty-four feet high, abounding in long and pendulous pannicles of rich geranium-coloured blossoms, and long elegant lance-shaped leaves; it is of the class and order Diadelphia Decandria and too beautiful an object to be passed unobserved[1]." Declared
Fig. 37. Palms and Plantains.
to be a new genus, it was named "Amherstia nobilis, in compliment to the Countess of Amherst[2]."
Palms of all kinds flourish in luxuriant abundance and are characteristic features of the scenery everywhere in the plain country. Of these may be mentioned dani (Nipa fruticans) and danôn (Calamus arborescens), whose broad leaves are used for thatching; tari or palmyra (Borassus
