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Genus THRINAX, Sw. — Part 2

The Thatch, or Silk-top Palmetto (Thrinax Floridana, Sarg.) has a silver lining in its glossy green fan leaves, making it a beautiful and showy tree. It mounts its leaf crown 20 or 30 feet high on a slender white stem which is clothed half way down in the sheaths of dead leaf stalks. The branched flower stems are pendant from among the leaves; the fruit is a white berry with bitter juice. The tree inhabits coral reefs and the mainland coast between Cape Romano and Cape Sable.

Another silver-leaved Thatch (T. Keyensis, Sarg.) rises on a supporting framework of its own roots 2 or 3 feet above the beach sand of the Marquesas Keys, Crab Key and the Bahamas.

The Silver-top Palmetto (T. microcarpa, Sarg.) has its leaves coated when they unfold with dense white down. Flowers and fruit are abundant but minute. The tree rarely exceeds 25 feet in height. It inhabits No Name and Bahia Hondo Keys, south of Florida. The leaves of the three species are used for weaving hats, baskets and ropes. The trunks are used as piles for wharves.