• 2 2 6 A>'.NALS OF T H E KOYAL BOTIVJILC GAUDEN, CALCUTTA. [Q. H O O B E M N US
A partial inflorescence of a female spadix from Wight's Herbarium (No. 2758 in
Herb. Petrop.) collected on the Nilgiris Hills in April 1847 is l-5m.
long and bears on each side 10 spikelets, of which the largest is 28 cm. in length.
I n the specimen from the Gudalces Ghat, collected by Gamble, the leaf-sheath, gibbous
above, is about 3'o cm. in diam., and shows traces of having been densely tawnyfurfuraceous
when young and is armed with straight, flat, subulate, pale, rather short,
scattered or partially seriate spines; the petiole is 20 cm. long, remotely clawed
beneath along the middle, and armed at the sides on both surfaces with some flat
straight spiaes which are intermingled with others smaller and tubereuliform. At the
base of the petiole near the ocrea stands a very long ascendent straight spine.
Apparently not differing from the above is a specimen from Goodaloor given to me
by Mr. C. B. Clarke, consisting in a male partial inflorescence and the apex of a
leaf; this specimen, however, somewhat differs from the others in the very short
secondary spikeleta, hardly longer than the spathels aud with ouly 2-3 flowers on
each side, and these larger than in the Ceylon specimens.
C. pseudo-ienuis is distinguished in the group by the elongate leaves which
have numerous equidistant, narrowly lanceolate 3-costate leaflets, the costiE being
bristly-spinulous above ; by the leaf-rachis armed beneath with straight spines in the
lower part and with loog-tipped claws upwards; by the partial inflorescences very
elongate; by the male spadix with compound spikes -which bear many very small, very
short, almost rudimentary subscorpioid spikelets very similar to those of C. vmimlis;
by the female spikelets vermicular, long, flexuose; and by the fruit small, obovate,
beaked, with scales yellow at the base and red-brown at the tip.
PLATE 69.—-Calamus pseudo-tenuis Becc. An intei-mediate portion of a leaf (lower
sui-facc); portion of a male spadis and apex of a fruit spadix, from C. P. No.
2335 in Herb. Petrop.; portion of a female spadix in flower (on the right-hand side),
from Wight, No. 2758 in Herb. Webb at Florence.
54. CALAMUS HOOKEKIAKUS Becc.
C. borneensis (not of Miq.) Becc. in Rec. Bot. Surv. ludi. ii, 205.
DESCBIPTION.—Probably very high-acandent, slender or of moderate size. Leaf-sheatks
. . . . Leaves elongate, rather large (not seen entire); petiole ; rachis
acutely trigonous, bifaccd and smooth above, in the terminal portion fogaciously
tawny-lanoginose. flat below, where sub-regularly armed along the middle with short
solitary claws; leaflets numerous, equidistant, not very closely set, rather regularly
alternate, decreasing in length towards the apex, papyraceous, rather rigid, almost the
same colour on both surfaces, narrowly linear-ensiform, shortly attenuate at the base,
gradually acuminate towards the apex, 3-costulate above, the mid-coata more acute
and prominent than the side cost© aod all furnished with a few long brown bristles
which are bulbous at the base; beneath, the mid-costa not very prominent, more or
loss bristly towards the apex, all the side nerves faint and smooth; Ihe largest
leaflets among those seen, which belong to the lower portion of what appears to
be the upper third-part of the entire leaf, 30 cm. long and 13 mm. broad j
C. Hookerianus] BECCABI . MONOGEAPH OF T H E GEKt r s CALAMUS. 2 2 r
the upper ones gradually shorter and narrower, and with an almost obtuse and
bristly-peniclllate apex; the two of the t e m i n a l pair very narrow, quite free at the
base; margins very minutely, very appressedly, and often indistinctly spinulous;
transverse veinlets not very conspicuous, weak and much interrupted. Male spadix
Female spadix very long, slender, flagelliform, simply decompound,
armed on the back of the attenuated unsheathed axial portion, between two partial
inflorescences, with strong solitary aggregate or half-whorled claws; lower primary
gpatjjes ; upper primary spathes very long, narrow, cylindrical, tubular,
very loosely sheathing, often split longitudinally upward, sprinkled with short
aculei truncate, entire and acute on one side at the mouth; partial inflorescences
excessively long, in one specimen 1'5 m. long with 10 spikelets on each side,
slender, aud with a filiform aculeolate bppendix at its apex; secondary spathes
very long, very narrowly tubular-cylindraceous, suddenly narrowed near the base,
very closdy sheathing, decreasing iu length from the base of the infloresoeoce
upwards, the lowest 10 cm., the upper ones 5 cm. long, usually armed externally
near the base with a few solitary or aggregate and subseriate claws, and in
the upper part with very small tubereuliform spinules or almost unarmed, entire,
obliquely truncate and acute at one side at the mouth; .spikelets attached at,,
or a few millimetres above, the mouth of their respective opathe, horizontal
or deflexed by a very conspicuous axillary cailu«, thickly filiform and rigid,
zig-zag sinuous between the insertion of each flower; the largest ones, the
lowest, 10-15 cm. long, with 10-15 distichous rather remote flowers on each side;
the upper ones shorter, 4-5 cm. long with a proportionate number of flowers;
spathels asymmetrically infundibuliform. 4-5 mm. long, not or very slightly
veined, glabrous, ti'uncate, entire, slightly prolonged at one side into a very short
point; involucrophorum almost wholly exserted from its own spathel and laterally
attached to the base of the one above, shallowly cupular, subdiscoid with a very
short limb; involucre very shallowly cupular, moulded on the involucrophorum,
irregularly and obscurely lobulate at the margin; areola of the neuter flower callous,,
lunate, very sharply bordered. Female flowers small, 3 mm. long. Fruiting perianth
not distinctly forming a pedicel to the young fruit, but callous at the base; its
calyx split down almost to the callous base into 3 ovate lobes; its corolla divided a
little beyond the middle into 3 segments as long as the lobes of the calyx but a
little narrower; stamens with filaments united by their bases aud elongately
triangular and subulaio in the free portion. Fruit (very young) almost horizontally
attached to the spikelets, subglobose-ovate, broadly conical at the top, 9-10 mm. long,
6 mm. in diam.; scales in 18 series, not channelled along the middle, yellowish
brown at the base, cheatnut-brown in the anterior portion, finely erosely toothed
on tbe margins and mainly at the summit, of its triangular acute tip. Seed (immature)
subglobose, with equable albumen.
HABITAT.—The native country of thia speciea is uncertain, as some of the specimens.
from which the description is derived are labelled as coming from Borneo, while
others appear to have baen collected on tbe Coromandel coast. The great similarity,
however, of C. Eooherianus with C. pseudo-tmuis leads me to suppose India a
more probable home than Borneo for the
ANK. E o t . BOT, GAKD. CALOUTIA VOL. X I .