Metroxylon
(from metra, the heart of a tree, and xylon, wood; in allusion to the large proportion of pith contained in the plant). SYN. Sagus (in part). ORD. Palmeae. A genus comprising about half-a-dozen species of erect stove palms, natives of the Malayan Archipelago, New Guinea, and the Fiji Islands. Spadix large, loosely paniculate-branched; spathe coriaceous, aculeate; floriferous branchlets alternate, elongated, erect, recurved. Fruit ellipsoid or sub-globose, one-seeded. Leaves terminal, sub-erect, equally pinnatisect; segments opposite, linear-lanceolate, acuminate; the costa setose beneath; margins at base recurved. The sago of commerce is prepared from the trunks of M. laeve and M. Rumphii. The species described below succeeds best in sandy loam, and requires a strong, moist heat. Propagation may be effected by seeds, or by suckers.
M. vitiense (Viti or Fiji). l. pinnate, with segments about 1in. broad; petiole, lower portion particularly, beset with scattered long slender prickles.