12. The upper surface and the ligule of young leaves of Thrincoma are covered with a layer of wax in the form of small plates or scales not present in Thrinax.
Thringis gen. nov.
Trunk columnar, rimose; wood pithy. Leaves coriaceous with equal veinules, silvery below with closely appressed whitish pubescence. Fruits distinctly pedicellate, the pedicel with a bract above the base. Seed cerebriform, irregular, with wide furrows and convolutions; surface smooth and shining. Embryo subapical.
The characters of this genus are imperfectly known, none of the specimens being complete. Supposing however, that the association is a natural one, we have a genus with leaves and pedicellate fruits much more similar to those of Thrincoma than to those of Thrinax, and at the same time a columnar, rimose and pithy trunk like that of Thrinax and Coccothrinax. The seeds appear to differ from those of all related genera in the possession of large irregular convolutions. The coriaceous leaves, small fruits, subapical embryo, and other differences separate this genus from Coccothrinax.
Thringis laxa sp. nov.
The trunk is columnar or somewhat enlarged upward, about 3.6 m. high and 12 cm. in diameter. Surrounding its base was a dense turf of fine upright rootlets. The bark was rough and rimose.
The leaves are similar to those of T. latifrons, but smaller, the segments being about 70 cm. long by 33 mm. wide. The size of leaves is thus about the same as those of Thrincoma alta, but the texture is thin and flexible, the veinules being slender and not prominent on either side. The pubescence is much thinner than that of T. alta and of a silvery-gray color.
A palm collected in December, 1899, at Vega Baja, but without fruit (no. 1041). The habit and trunk are not those of Thrincoma, but the form and texture of the leaves and ligule associate the species with Thrincoma alta rather than with the palms here placed in Thrinax.
The columnar habit and protected habitat are reflected in the small ligule, 18 mm. across, and the relatively broad petiole, 13 mm. wide. It appears from the dried specimens of this species and T. latifrons that the leaves may have been “full,” or irregularly folded, instead of strictly and equally expanded as in Thrincoma alta, and the greater width of the segments is a further indication of this possibility. The rigidity of the leaf of Thrincoma alta can be maintained because the segments are narrow and do not open widely.
The soft texture of the leaves of this palm is recognized by the natives who use it for making hats and call it “yaray” the same name which is applied in this part of the island to Inodes causiarum.