3 3 0 ANNALS OF THE BOYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. exiUs»
entire seen from the ehalazal side; seed cut through tlie embryo. From the Leyden
Herb.
108. CALAMUS EXILIS Griff. Palms Brit. India, 51, pi. CLXSXVI A. f. iv; Mart.
Hist, Nat. Pabn. iii, 333 and pi. 176, f. vii; Walp. Ann. iii, 484 and
V, 830; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 116; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi, 464;
Becc. in Eec. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii, 208.
DESCRIPTION.—Scandent, slender or of moderate size, 3-7 m. long. Sheathed giem
in delicate plants 5-6 rom., in luxuriant ones 1-2 cm, in diam. Leaf-sheaihs
flagelliferous, gibbous above, obliquely truncato and very densely hairy, ciliate or
bearded at the mouth, very scabrid, being densely covered with innumerable short
rigid haiis, -which rest on a bullous base, and furthermore often, but not always,
more or less a m e d with straight horizontal or deflexed, usually short, broad-basod,
slender or rather robust, solitary or more rarely confluent spines; the scabridity
which covers the spathes extends also to the bnse of the petioles, primary spathea,
flagella, and in a lesser and variable degree to the leaf-rachis and different parte of
the spadix, except flowers and fi-uit. Ocrca very short, densely bearded. Leaf-sheath
fiagella slender, filiform, flattened and unarmed in their basal portion, and furnished
upwards with numerous irregularly scattered, not or slightly confluent small claws.
Leaves not cirrifovons, 50-60 cm. and in luxuriant plants 1-1'2 m, long; petiole
relatively long, about one-fifth of the total length of the leaf (12-25 cm.), rather
broad (o-S mm.), flat or slightly channelled near its base above, convex and quite
unarmed or more or less clawed beneath, the margins rather acute and m-med with
straight and horizontal or more or less recurved spines, or with the two kinds mixed
together; raohis more or less scabridulous and hairy, bifaced abovQ, armed beneath
along the middle throughout its whole length with solitary claws; leaflets numerous,
thinly papyraceous, alternate or subopposite, equidistant, J2-17 mm. apart, green and
subconcolorous on both surfaces, linear-sublanceolate, gradually attenuate into a not
very acuto base, subulately acuminate and aristate at the apex, with the mid-costa
slender but acute above and 2-5 secondaiy nerves on each side of i t ; of these one
often stronger than the others and therefore occasionally more or less distinctly
3-costulate; secondary nerves more or less hairy-hispidulous; transverse veinlets not
very conspicuous, distant and short; margins hairy-hispid or adpressedly ciliate; the
largest leaflets in delicate plants are 15-25 cm. long, 8-10
broad and ia
luxuriant ones 20-25 cm., by 12-14 mm.; the upper ones narrower
two of the terminal pair qui to free at the base. Male spadix. .
spadix decompound, rigid, erect and straight in its basal part, from
in length, including a very slender filiform aculet
few (.2-5) partial inflorescences; primary spathes
• and shorter; the
. . . . Female
60 cm. to 2 m.
iolate terminal flagellum, bearing a
coriaceous, elongate, tubular, closelyhairy
or bearded at the mouth, prolonged at the summit into a triangular
I r a t r p o i n t , this keeled on the back; the lowermost flat on the inaer side near its base,
conres on the back, slightly flattened and two-edged upwards, the edges spinulous,
otherwise unaimed or sparsely aculeolate; upper primary spathes more cylindraceous
than the fiist, usually sparsely aculeolate, somewhat narrowed to tho base, where
more or less armed, especially in the upper part of the spadix, with scattered claws
on the outer side; partial inflorescences panicled, rather dense and terminating in
C. exilis.'] BECCAHI. MONOOEAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMUS. 331
a Scorpio id floriferous summit, from 7-10 to 20-1^0 cm. long, arising erect from
their own spathes, then arched and scorpioid, respectively with 4-5 to 10-15 spikelets
on each side; these with an obvious secund arrangement and gradually decreasing
in length from the base to the summit; secondary spathes cylindraceous or very
slightly infundibulifoi-m, hispid-scabrid, almost horizontally truncate and ciliate at the
mouth, slightly prolonged at one side into a short triangular point; spikelets
inserted above the mouth of their own spathes with a distinct axillary callus, recurved,
Bcorpioid; the largest, the lowest, 3-6 cm. long, with 10-16 remote flowers, these
arranged in two divergent series (not in one plane) and slightly pointing upwards;
upper spikelets gradually smaller, those near the summit very fcw-flowcrcd; spathels
elongate-cylindraceoiis, similar to the secondary spathes but smaller; involucrophorum
laterally inserted outside its own spathel at the base of tho one above, with a distinct
axillary callus next to the axis, subcalyciform, stalked by a more or less elonsrate
(even 5 mm.) thick pedicel or neck; involucre slightly exceeding the involucrophorum,
subdisciform or pateriform, slightly concave, subcircular or obsoletely trigonous; areola
of the neuter flower depressed, slightly tumescent. Female flowers ovoid-oblong, about
4 mm. long, glabrous, very finely and obsoletely striately veined outside; the calyx
•with short triangular acute teeth; the corolla divided about midway down into 3
acute segments, these narrower than the lobes of the calyx and barely longer than
these; stamens forming an urceolum by their united bases, elongate and subulate
i n their free portion. Fniitivg perianth pedicelliform, campanulate. Fruit elongateellipsoid
or ovoid-elliptic, suddenly narrowed at tho summit into a short small conic
beak, caudiculate at the base, very variable in size, 15-16 mm., long and 8 mm.
broad, or longer and relatively narrower, in one specimen 22 mm. by 7 mm.; scales
squarrose or not very closely adpressed, in 14-16 series, longer than broad, shortly
prolonged into a rather obtuse tip, almost flat, obsoletely chnnnellod along the
middle, opaque, yellowish-brown, with a narrow diirk intvamarginal line, the margins
erosely toothed. Seed linear-oblorg, acute at both ends, with tho elongate ehalazal
fovea in the centre of the raphul side, from which radiate many deep narrow
furrows or plicae which pass over both ends and sides of the seed and converge
into the embryo which is in the centre of tho opposite face; albumen horny,
ruminated owing to the deep plicae mentioned above; these tilled with a resinous
yellowish-green very bitter stuff; embryo lateral in the centre of one of the faces.
HABITAT.—The Malayan Peninsula. The specimen upon which Griffith based
his description was collected by E. Fernandez on the Gunong Ladang (Mt. Ophii-)
near Malacca. This fine species has been since then rediscovered by Sir G-oorge
King's collectors at Larut near Ferak (Nos. 6245, 2734, 6245) at 250-300 m.
elevation; at Ulu Bubong (No. 10259); also at Thaiping at 1,000-1,200 m. on
Gunong Ijuk, Scortcchini (No. 8457).
OiJSEuvATioNs.—Very distinct amongst the Malayan and Indian species, but closely
related to the others of the group of 0. ciliaris. It is distinguished by the very scabrid
leaf-sheaths, by the very elongate and narrow ellipsoid fruit and by tho rather large
leaves with numerous equidistant lincar-lanceolate leaflets. Very variable in general
dimensions and in the more or less elongate fruit and in the hairiness of tho leaflets.
I n the authentic specimen of Grifiith the two faces cf the leaflets appear at first
AsN. lloY. BOT. ) OAICUITA, VOL. S I .