AIÎNALS OP THE EOYAL BOTAIFIC GABDEN, CALCUTTA, {C. mollis
an acute and sometimes denticulate border, Fmale flowers very small, about 3 mm.
long; ihe calyx obconic-caui panul ate, narrowing at the baso, divided down to the
middle into 3 broad acato lobos; corolla one-third longer than tho calyx, divided
into 3 lanceolate acutc segments ; the stamens united by their bases and forming a
very high membranous urceolum which is crowned by 6 broad triangular acute
teeth, of which 3 appear amongst the segments of the corolla and simulate aa
additional whori of the corolla; the anthers sterile, sagittate at the base, obtuse at
the apex. Fntiting perianth not pedicelliform, explanate. Fruit ovoid-elliptic or
subobovate, small, about 1 cm. long, 6 mm. thick, very suddenly contracted into a
rather long beak; scalcs in 16 series, faintly channelled along the middle, light
greyish-yellow, sometimes indistinctly spotted at the apex, with paler erosely toothed
margin. Seed very small, 4-5 mm. long, somewhat flattened and very irregularly
angular with an indistinct chalazal fovea; albumen equable; embryo basal.
HABITAT.—Philippine Islands, where it seems a common plant, Ctmvig No. 1478
in Herb. Kew, Vindob., Deless., Boisa. and St. Petersburg; in the kst with th©
locality "South Camarioas" on the label; att Manilla collected by Gaudichaud during
the voyage of the "Bonite" in December 1836 (in Ilerb. Webb and Delcas.; specimens
named by Martius himself); Llanos iu Herb. Delessert (with the name C.
tisitulus Blanco); district of Jloroug, Vidal No. 1939 in Herb. Kew; mountains of
Boso-boso, Lolw Nos. 1372, 13G7, in Herb. Kew; Luzon, Mariveles, Warkirg
No. 12506 in Herb. Berol.; Antipolo, province of Kizal, Merrill, No. 1743 í , 1642,? ;
Arayat., province of Pampanga, Merrill No. 1411.
OBSERVATIONS.—I have described the male plant from the specimens collected by
Gaudichaud at Manilla and seen by Martius, and the fruit from the No. 12506 of
"Warburg in the Herbarium at Berlin.
I am not quite certain that the Calamus named by Martinis O. mollis is really
that published by Blanco under this name, but in the absence of authentic specimens
of the true C. mollis^ I have followed Martius. Furthermore this autlior has considered
as belonging to C. usilatus Blanco, a partial inflorescence witli immature fruit of
C. mollit also collected by Gaudichaud at Manilla (Ilerb. Deless.) and therefore
apparently Martius has given the name of C. mollis to the male plant and of C.
udtatus to the female one of the samo species, C. mitaiua has been identified by
me with Dcemonorops Gaudickaudii. The arrangement of the leaflets iu C. mollis is
very variable, as in some loaves they are almost equidistant, with only very few
spaces between the leaflets slightly larger than usual, while at other times these
spaces are rather long and very variable, chiefly towards tho apex of the leaf
which then looks very much like that of C. Blar.coi.
Vidal's No. 1939 in the Kew Herbarium belongs to a more robust form than
the type specimens of Cuming and Gaudichaud; one of its partial male inflorescences
being 30 cm. long, rather compact, with many secondary branchleta charged with
numerous 4 cm. long spikelefcs. 0. milis is characterised as follows:—Rather slender^
leaf-sheaths sparingly spinous; leaves short, petiole very short, leaflets narrowly
lanceolate, not very numerous, inequidistant but not fascicled, narrowly lanceolate,
uni-costate or sub-3-costulate; spadices flagelliform, spikelets with very closely
IC. Weyenianus BECCARI. MONOGRAPH OP THE GENUS CALAMUS. 215
packed bracteiEorm spathels ; fruit small, subobovate elliptic, 1 cm., long, including
tho beak.
The description of 0. Hamkeams Mart. (1. c., 2 edit., 337) agrees pretty well
with the characters of C. mollis, but the fruit is described as having about 24
longitudinal series of scales, a rather extraordinary number. However, m the
description of the same species at p. 212 of the first edition no characters are given
of the fruit.
PLATE 61.—Calamus mollis Blanco. Apex of a leaf and portion of a male spadix
iron» Gaudidiaud's specimens in Herb. Delessert, one of the type specimens of Martius.
PLATE 62.—-Calamus mollis Blanco. Apex of a leaf and a female partial
inflorescence in flower (on the lower part of the right hand side of tho plate), from
Cuming's No. 1478 in the Berlin Herb.; tho upper part of a plant with an entire
leaf f.nd fruit spadix from Warburg's No. 12506 in the Berhn Herb. ; the detached
fruits and seeds near the base of the plate do not belong to C. mollis.
48. CALAMUS MEYENIANUS Schauer in Mey. Observ. Bot. in Nov. Act. Acad.
Caes. Nat. Cur. xvi, (1843), suppl. 1, 425; Becc. in Rec. Bot.
Surv. Jnd. ii, 217.
DESCRIPTION.—Scandent, slender. Sheathed stmn 10-12 mm. in diam. Leafsheaths
fiagelliferous, very thinly covered with a brown evanescent furfuraceous' indumentum,
gibbous above, quite unarmed, finely and distinctly striate longitudinally,
greenish oven when dry. Oerea naked, exsuccous, brittle, deciduous. Leavet not
cirriferous, in one specimen 70 em. long including the petiole, which is 10 cm.
long and almost unarmed, rounded and striate beneath, with 3 shallow narrow
channels (the mesial the deepest) on the upper face, the margins acute and smooth ;
rachis convex beneath in the lower portion, flattish upwards, and almost regularly
armed there throughout to the apex along the middle with email solitary claws;
leaflets rather numerous (54 in all) conspicuously inequidistant, usually in pairs on
one side in the lower third of the rachis with the pairs almost opposite and 3-5 cm.
a p a r t ; in the upper third irregularly alternate, move approximate than lower down,
membranous, linear-lanceolatc, narrowed a good deal towards the base, very acuminate
to the apex, dull, greenish even when dry, almost of the same colour on both surfaces
their mid-costa acute, naked or sparingly spinulous above, where accompanied on each
side by some slender secondary nerves; beneath only the mid-costa moderately
spinulous; margins remotely spinulous; the largest leaflets, those a little above the
base 25-27 cm. long by 15-17 mm. in breadth; the lowest narrower but of the same
length; the upper ones gradually shorter but not narrower; the two of the terminal
pair free at the base, at most 7-8 cm. long. Female spadix simply decompound,
elongate, flagelliform (not seen entire, but probably flagelliferous at the apex), its
attenuated basal portion between two partial inflorescences armed on the outer side
with many scattered or approximate claws ; lowest primary spatho very long, strictly
sheathing, flattened and acutely two-odijed, quite unarmed, truncate at the mouth;
upper Bpathes not seen; pai'tial inflorescences probably few, the two I have seen
about 20 cm. long with 6 epikelets on each side; secondary