3 3 6 AKNAIS OF T i n BOYAL BOTAHIC GARDIN. OAiOUTTA. rhomtoiileUS.
mmgim roiaolely mcoiispiouously spinuloM. Tlio loaf-sheaths ats not scabtid a> in
C. pihullus, but this has niunerou» equidistant small leaflets besides other
characteristic marks.
I consider as belonging to this species a specimen of a leof and of an entire
male spadix preserTOtl in the Calcutta Herbarium and collected by Lobb in
Sarawak. The leaf is 75 cm. long and bears 28 equidistant leaflets, of which
the largest are 35-2ti cm. long and 17-la mm. broad, not diScring from those
described above, but a little ciore densely ciliate on both surfaces' the small portion
of the sheath attached to the leaf is unarmed; the rachis is rusty-Iaauginose and
ciliate upwards. Tlie spadiz is more than a metre in length and is fermiuated
with a small aculeolate flagellum; the spathea .and spathels arc glabrous and not in
t h e least degree scabrid; the partial inflorescences are branched iu their lower portion
and bear many arched spreading spilcelets; the male iiowers are obloag, 4-5 mm,
long, with the calyx urcoolate-campanuUte, broadly 3-toothod, finely striltely veinedthe
corolla twice and twice and a half as long as the calyx.
Another male spadix from which all the flowers have fallen away, collected by
me in Sarawak (P. B. No. 343), apparently also belongs here; it has the primary
spathes as in C. pilmllm, bat they are not scabriii; the secondary spathea and the
spathels infundibuliform, loosely sheathing, in their upper part glabrous and smooth;
the involucre shallowly cupular, sessile, just oulside its own spathel at the base of
the one above.
PLATE 133.—Calamus satawakensis Bece. L^rtion of the sheathed stem with
two entire l e a v e s i - f r om P. B. No. 1920 (sterile specimen); the male spadix without
flowers collected by me in Sarawak (No. 343); portion of an inflorescence with male
flowers ; - f r o m Lobbs specimen mentioned above and preserved in the Calc. Herb.
H2. OiLiiins EHOMBoiDEns Bl. in Room, et Schult. Syst Ve«- vii pt 3 1333
Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 212 (l.t edit.) and °341 '(partly' as t^
descript.); Kunth Enum. PI. iii, 212.; Walp. Ann. iii, 490 and v, 833-
Bl. Rumphia iii, 60 (partly as to descript. and excl. var. H) and 154-
Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 134 (excl. var.) and Do Palm. 28; Toys™. Cat!
Hort. Bogor. To; H. Wendl. in Kerch. Les Palm. 337; Becc. Malesia
11, 77 and in Eec. Bot. Sutv. Ind. ii, 309.
DEBCMPno».—Soandont; of moderate size; ooverod on the leaf-sheaths, petiole
leaf.rachis and spadix with a greyish short adherent furfuraceoiis-toniontose indumentum
Sh,athal .rfm about 3 em, in diam. Uaf..hm«„ gibboas above, longitudinally
stnolate, sptmkled here and there with very short, conic, subtuberoular spines
i m m not cirriferous (or sometimes terminating in a very small and short i-ndimentary
crrus beyond the two end pinnas) -7-1 m. long (Blume); petiole about
30 cm. long, deeply channelled and unarmed above (Blume), rounded and armed with
scattered solitary or confluent claws beneath; rachis smooth and not very acutely
bitacod above, rounded and sparingly armed beneath with small claws; leaflets
very lew, 4-7 on each side, papyraceous, rather firm, opaque, green above
.lightly paler oeneath, alternate or snboppositc, erecto-patoat, broadly ovate,'
rhomboidal, almost equally narrowed to both ends, cuneately attenuated, acute and
C. rjiomboideus.'] BECCAEI. MOKOGEAPH OF THE OENITS CALAMUS. 337
sometimes asymmetric, but not ansatc at the base, suddenly contracted at the apex
into a short narrow bristiy-ciliatc tip, flabellate or radiate-plicate with 9-12 maiucostae
almost equally prominent on both surfaces, radiately divergent from the base,
of which the central only reaching tho summit and the side ones arching near the
margins and evanescent at different levels; secondary nerves slender and like the
primaiy ones naked on both surfaces; transverse veinlets very numerous, crowded)
distinct and not much intermpted; the margins bristly-oiliate from above tho
middle; all leaflets of about the same size, the intermediate ones 20-23 cm. long,
9-10 cm. broad, the two of tho terminal pair quite discrete at the base, slightly
smaller than the others. Male Sfridii simply decompound, elongate, sometimes up to 2
metres in length (?), flagclliferous at the summit; primary spathes tubular, cylindraceous,
closely sheatlnng, thinly coriaceous, alightly enlarged above, prickly
cbiefly on the back near the. base, prolonged at the summit ioto a short ovate
acute point; partial inflorescences numerous, attached near the mouth of their own
spathes, elongate, rather rigid, erecto-patent, those seen by me 30-40 cm. long
with 8-12 spikolels on each side; secondary spathes narrowly tubular, infundibuliform,
gradually decreasing in length from tho base of the inflorescence upwards
(owing to tho spikolets being gradually more approximate), the lowest, the
largest 2-2-5 cm. long, unarmed, longitudinally finely striately veined, scaly or
subglabrous, truncate and entire at the mouth, slightly prolonged at one side
into a short obtuse patent or defiexcd point; spikelets arched, horizontal or deflexed,
inserted just at the mouth of their own spathes, with a distinct axillary callus,
rather rigid and thick, the longest, the lowest, 5-7 cm. long v\'ith 13-15
perfectly bifaiious flowers on each side; tho upper ones somewhat shorter and
•with fewer flowers; spathels approximate, bracteiform, very broad, concave, patent
or subreflexed, obtuse, entire, obsoletely striately veined ; involucre subringent, more
or less regularly cupular, sometimes longer than broad, occasionally obscurely
bidentato aud two-keeled on the side next to the axis, pushing down its OWQ
spathel and laterally attached to the baso of the one above. Male /lowers large,
8 mm. long, 2 mm, thick, almost horizontally inserted, cylindraceous, obtuse, firm
in texture; calyx cyathiforoi, eampanulate, boldly striately veined with 3 short
very broad obtuse teeth; corolla almost 3 times as long as the calyx, divided
from near the base into 3 oblong not or indistincly striately veined opaque
segments; stamens with filiform filaments, these when in the bud inflected; anthers
linear-sagittate, acute, versatile, attached a little below the apex; rudimentary ovary
minute, 3-partito. Female spadiz aad fi'uit unknown.
HABITAT.—Java, on the MegameDdong mountain. According to Blume it occurs
also in Sumatra aud Borneo. From Sumatra I have seen no specimens. Those
from Borneo, which Blume considers as only a variety (/3. rigida) of the Javan
plant, seem to me specifically distinct.
OBSERVATIONS.—I have seen of C. rhomboideus a leaf and a portion of the
spadix of the authentic specimen, the same described by Blume and figui-ed in
plate 154 of the " Rumpbia." Blume does not exactly state the locality of the male
spadix, but the portion sent to me by the late Dr, Boerlage is labelled as having
been gathered on the Megamendong.
ANK. EOY. BOT. GAED. CALCUTTA YOL. X I,