Dypsis
(from dupto, to dip; application not given). ORD. Palmae. A genus of five or six species of unarmed dwarf stove Palms, all natives of Madagascar. Flowers monoecious, in branched panicles. Males with membranous, orbicular sepals, and ovate, acute, valvate petals; stamens six, the linear filaments connate at the base. Females smaller than the males, sub-globose, with membranous broadly imbricated sepals, and convolute imbricate petals. Spadices long, lax-flowered. Stems reed-like, surmounted by a crown of leaves, entire or bifid at the apex, or pinnatisect; segments cleft, or praemorsely dentate. The species in cultivation are: Hildebrandtii, madagascariensis, and pinnatifrons.