020 ANNALS OP THE ROTAI, BOTANIC OAEDEN, CALCUTTA, [C- gracilis.
above, almost fiat, disciform, slightly projecting and apiculate ou the side of the
neuter flower; involucre orbicular, disciforin-patoriforin or almost explanate, the margin
often unequal or undulate; areola of the neuter flower depressed, sublunato with a
central callous scar and rather sharp borders. Female jloioers distant, horizontally
attached, 3'o mm. lon^; the calyx shortly cylindraceoua, thick and coriaceous, almost
smooth or obsoletely veined, shortly 3-toothed; corolla deeply parted into three ovateacute
segments, slightly longer than the calyx; stamens with filaments highly connate
at the base aud broadly triangular in the free portion; anthers sagittate. Fmiting
perianth distinctly pedicelliform with a flat base. FruH broadly oroid-clliptic, equally
rounded at both ends, caudiculate at the base, very suddenly and shortly mucronate
at the summit, 25-30 mm, long including the perianth and the beak, 14-17 mm.
broad; scales in 21 series, straw-yellowish, usually coucolorous or with a very narrow
brown border, shining, nan'owly but rather deeply channelled along the middle
throughout their total length, and glviog the fruit the appearance of being
longitudinally channelled with as many furrows as there are series of scales. Seed
almost regularly ovoid, rounded at both ends, 16-18 mm. long, 12-U mm. broad,
10-11 mm. thick, covered by the very adherent integument, finely pitted, with a small
centi-al superficial clialazal fovea on the raphal side; albumen very deeply ruminate,
or penetrated almost to the centre with narrow channels filled with a substance of
the appearance of coagulated blood; embrj o central on the face opposite to the
chalazal fovea and deeply penetrating the albumen.
HABITAT. N. E. India: Chittagong, Roxburgh; Khasia Hills in the Ladder valley,
1.000 m., and at Churra 1,200 m. JJoolcer Thomson in Herb. Kew ; Cachar, B. L.
Éeenan in Herb. Kew ; Upper Assam, on the banks of the Dhunsiri River, G. Mann
in Herb. Kew; Doyan forest and Naga Hills, Mann in Herb. Becc,—Native name
in Chittagong, "Mapuri Bet" (Roxburgh), in Assam " Oahing Bet" (G. Mann).
OBSERVATIONS.—This is a very distinct species by its short leaves with lanceolate,
conspicuously grouped leaflets, which do not point in different directions but are
arranged in one plane, those of one side opposite to those of the other side and the
groups separated by long vacant spaces; furthermore very few Calami have the seed
ruminated with the embryo in the centre of one of the faces and not basal. In
fruit it approaches 0. melanacanlhus, but this has leaves _with numerous equidistant
leaflets.
I have described the male
botanic garden of Copenhagen.
from some specim sent by Wallich to the
PLATE 124.—Calamus gracilis Roxb. Upper portion of a leaf-sheath with base of
a leaf and of a spadix; upper portion of a leaf; the spadix, of which the base is
attached to the sheath—it bears ripe f r u i t ; one seed seen from the raphal and
another from the embryo side; one transversally and one longitudinally cut through
the embryo.—From Mann's specimens from the Khasia Hills, in Herb. Becc.—Onefruit
spadix with the terminal cirrus, on tlie left side of the plate, from the Dayan.
Forest (Mann in Herb. Becc.).
C. meianacanthus.'] BECCAEI. MOIFOGEAPH o r THI: GENUS CALAMUS. 321
104. CALAMUS MELANACANTBUS Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 211 (1st edit.)
and 333, t. 116, f. 3 and t. z xxri, f. x; Kunth, Enum. PI. iii,
211; Gnff. in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. 49 and Palms Brit. Ind.
59; Walp. Ann. iii, 484 and v, 830; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 115
and De Palmis Arch, Ind., 27; Kurz in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng.
xlii, II. (1874), 215, t. XX u; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi, 453; Becc.
in Eec. Bot. Surv. Jnd. ii, 208.
DESCfiiPTioN.—Scandent. Stem Leaf-sheaths Leaves
elongate, not cirrifei-ous; petiole ; rachis in its upper portion bifaced above
aud armed beneatlt with small solitarj' claws; leaflets numerous, rugularly bifarious,
equidistant, alternate or subopposite, nitescent, green even when dry, almost concolorous
on both surfaces, linear-lanceolate, somewhat narrowed to the base, gradually acuminate
into a very slender iilamentose tip, tricostulate, the mid-costa very sparingly bristlyspinulous
on both surfaces, the other two costae furnished with a few long bristles in
the upper surface and naked beneath; transverse veinlets slender and distant and much
interrupted ; margins acute, furnished with veiy minute distant spinules, these closer near
the summit; the largest leoflets, which are the lowest in ono specimen of the upper part
of a leaf, 17-18 cm. long and 10-11 mm. broad, very speedily diminishing towards
the summit, where they are of the size aud shape of willow leaves, almost obtuse and
bristly at their apex; the two of the terminal pah: shortly connate at the base, 4-5 cm.
long and 5 mm. broad. Female spadix apparently very long and flagelliform witli
remote partial inflorescences and elongated axial portions, these armed on their
convex outer side with strong solitary or aggregate dark-tipped claws; upper primary
spathes very elongate, very narrowly tubular, cylindraoeous, thinly coriaceous very
closely slioathing, green even when dry, not or indistinctly longitudinally striate,
smooth in their upper part, obliquely truncate, entire and acute at one side at the
mouth ; pai-tial inflorescences inserted outside the mouth of their own spathes, callous
at their upper axilla, the only one seen by me 20 cm. long, erecto-patent' with a
rather rigid axis, loosely panicled, bearing 5 distichous spikelets on each side
secondary spathes tubular, cylindraoeous, very slightly enlarged in their upper part
very closcly sheathing, obliquely truncate at the mouth, acute at one side, ciliate at
t h e margin, unarmed, fugaciously squamulose and later glabrous; the lowermost
obsoletely angular; spikelets spreading or horizontal, inserted above the mouth of their
town spathes, the lowest, the largest, 5-6 cm. long, with 6-7 ahernntely distichous
rather remote flowers on each side; spathels shortly tubular, cylindraceous, slightly
enlarged above, truncate and ciliate at the mouth, .subacute at one side; involucrophorum
exsert from its own spathel and laterally attached to the base of the one
a.bove, almost flat, subdiscoid with a very narrow limb; involucre vorv shallow
subdiscoid-pateriform, slightly exceeding the involucrophorum, its margin entire or
obsoletely toothed; areola of the neuter flower distinctly depressedly lunate. Fruiting
perianih very distinctly pedicelliform, 3 mm. long, the calyx hardened, cylindraceous
about 3 mm. thick, not veined outside, teeth short very broadly triangular, acute;.
the corolla divided down almost to the middle into 3 ovate-lanceolate acute smooth
(not veiued) segments, slightly longer than the calyx; stamens with filaments highly
united by their bases, shortly dentiform in the free portion. Fruit ovoid-elliptic,
23-25 mm. long, 14-15 mm., broad, suddenly mucrocate-mammillate at the summit^
AKS. ROY. BOT. GAUD. CAIOUTIA. VOL. X I.