3-10 ASNAiS OP THE EOZAL BOTANIC GAEDEN, CALCUTTA. [(?. Blumei.
P l a t e 135.—Calamus tomuntosus Bee;. Portion of !i sheatlied stem with base of a
leaf and of a iiagellum; an almost entire female spadix in flower; the summit of a
leaf, two leaflets from about the middle.—From Scortechini's No. 431'" in Herb. Becc.
Calamus tomentosus var. KORrnALSLVEEOLiua Becc. in Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii,
209.
Description.—Smaller, slender. Sheathed stem 1 cm. in diam. Leaf-sheaths
glabrous or partially covered, like the flagella, petiole and leaf-rachis, with very
email silvery scales, which are visible only with a lens, very sparingly armed with
small scattered depressed tubercnliform asccndent prickles. Oerea about 1 cm. long.
Leaves about 50 cent, long; with .5-6 leaflets on each side; rachis slightly prolonged
beyond the two ultimate leaflets; these subshining in the upper surface, 5-7 costulate,
l i em. long, 5 em. broad, the margins not ciliate (or with the ciiia deciduous?),
symmetric acute and not ansate at the base.
Habitat.—The Malayan Peninsula; on the Gnnong Tamhang Batak in the
diatj-ict of Perak, Seorteehini No. 5^7^ Malay name " Klunen."
Obbkrvations.—Without the iutennediate forms nobody would suspect this to be
only a variety of 0. tomeniosiis, especially on account of the baldness of its sheaths
upon which only very small scattered chalfy silvery scales similar to those that densely
cover all the axial parts in the type may be discovered after a careful examination.
This variety approaches C. Blumei, but in this the leaflets are distinctly asymmetrical
and ansate at the base.
The number 53^3 of the Calc. Herb, has a slender stem (17 mm. in diam.)
is less tomentose and baa smaller leaflets than the No. 0993 of the same Herb,
and of the No. 431'' of Scortechini; the specimen mentioned (No. 5332) is however
larger and more like the type than any other specimen of Scortechini [No. 1255) of
which I have made a variety intermedins and which forms a passage to the var.
horthalsiacfoUus.
P l a t e 136.—Calamus tomootosus var. korthalsiaefolius Beee. Two portions of
sheathed stem each with an entire leaf.—From Scortechini's No. 597'" in Herb. Beco.
Calamus tomentosus var, intermeuius Becc.
Description—Slender. Slieattted stem 8-10 mm. in diam. Leaf.sheaths, petiole
and leaf-racbis moderately prickly, not so densely tomentose as in the type and more
or less covered with small confluent greyish cbaffy scales which is also the source of
the general indumentum in the type-specimens; the leaflets slightly larger than in
Tar. korthalsiaefolius and relatively narrower (15 cm. long., 5-5-5 cm. broad).
Habitat.—The Malayan Peninsula; on the G-unong Ijuk, Seorteehini No. 12oD.
114. Calamus Blumei Becc. in Rec. Bot. Snrv. Ind. ii, 209.
C. rhomboi'ieus var. sejmentis rigidiorihm Bl. liumphia, iii, 60 (excl. descr.
spadix and fruit); Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. Hi, 134.
C. rhomhoideus (not of Bl.) Miq. Anal. Bot. Ind. i, 6.
€. Blumei.} BECCAEI. MOWOGEAPH OP TIIE GENUS CALAMUS.
DEsu«iPTio».-iim Leaf.sheaths Leaves (only the upper
•portion of one seen by me) with the rachis scurfy-furfuraceous, rather convex beneath,
where strongly armed at distances of 1-3 cm. with dark-pointed light-based acute
claws, naked and not very acutely bifaced in the upper face, prolonged beyond the
two ultimate leaflets into a small, 2 cm. long, clawed rigid appendix; leaflets few on
each side, alternate or enbopposite, 7-9 cm. apart, 13-18 cm. long, 7 - 8 cm. broad,
•the two of the terminal pair being the smallest, firm in texture, thinly coriaceous,
glabfous subshining above, barely paler beneath, broadly rhomboid-ovate, almost equally
mrrowed to both ends, cuneately attenuated, somewhat asymmetric, acute and
distinctly stalked or ansate at the base, where acutely keeled above, suddenly contracted
at the apex into a tail-like, very narrow, 12-15 mm. long, bristly-ciliate tip;
flabehate or radiately plicate, with 5 - 7 main oostae almost equally prominent on both
surfaces and radiately divergent from the base, of which only the mesial which is
somewhat ecccntric and slightly stronger than the others, reaches the summit and the
sido ones ai'ch near the margins and evanesce at different levels; secondary nerves
Blender and like the primary ones naked on both smfaces; transverse veinlets
numerou», crowded and continuous and almost parallel across the entire blade;
margins faintly undulate, slightly furfuraceous, ciliate only at the summit.
^ HABITAT.-Blume assigns Borneo as the native country of this species, and as
r t IS stated that it was .»llected there by Kcrthals, it ,.robably comes from the
banks of the Eiver Dusson. Blume gives also the indigenous name of " Tantuwu."
But as some mixtures have apparently taken place amongst the specimens from
which Blume derived the description of his C. rhomhoideus, the home of C. Blumei
remains up to the present somewhat uncertain.
Obsebvat10»s._(;. Blumoi difiers from rhmloideus in the rachis covered with a
brown scurf (not tomentose), much more strongly clawed and more distinctly bifseed
above, and in the leaflets which are smaller, firmer in texture, distinctly ansate and
more asymmetric at the base and with fewer costae (5-7 instead of 9-12)- the
mid-cost, also is eccentric and stronger than the other nerves, while in C. rhomhoideus
the costae are all of almost the same strength.
C. Blumei approaches the var. lortholsiaejoUm of C. tommtosus more closely than
it does C. rhomhoideus. ^
The specimen of C. Bhmei that I have seen is labelled in the Leyden
Herbarium by Blume "Calamus rh^mloideus Bl. var. rigida- Borneo, Korthals" and
consists of the terminal portion of a loaf and a partial inflorescence of a female
apadix stripped of its flowers or fruit; all these paris are attached to the same
sheet of paper. I have farther received from the k t e Dr. Boeriage some detached
frmts whrch apparently belong to the infiorescence mentioned above and which
oorrrespond to the description gireii by Blume of the fruit of 0. rhomhoideus But
It IS quite certain that the fruits and the inflorescence described by Blume as part
belonging to his 0. rhomioideus are those of a quite different species, probably of
C So,,„„n or of a very nearly allied species, as I have already stated in my
observations on (7. rhomhoideus. From the foregoing facts it appears that, as far as
i can judge, Blume founded his variety of C. rhomboidtus on the leayes of one