850 ANNALS OF THE EOrAL BOTANIC ffABDBN, CALCDTTA. [(J. oltienSfS
120. CALAMUS VITIENSIS Warb. MSS. (name only in tbo Berlin Herbarium).
DESCBIPTION.—Scandent, slender or of moderate size (Weber). Leaf-shcaths .
, . . Leaves 1-1-2 m. lonjj (Weber), apparently cirtifcrous; leaflets not numerous,
Tery irequidistant and remote, not fascicled, alternate or subopposito, thinly
papyraceous or subhevbaceous, green even when dry, concolorous on both sui-faces,
explanatc, lanceolate, almost equally narrowed fco both ends, inserted at a rather acuteangle
find not callous at their upper axilla, not very long-acuminate at the summit
into a not very acute tip, with 5 very slender costae completely naked on both
surfaces; transverse veinlets short, not very clnse together and much interrupted;
margins very acute, quite smooth except very near the summit, where finely
spinulous; the largest leaflets, the lowest of a terminal portion (the only one seen
by me), 2 2 - 2 5 cm. long and 35-36 mm. broad, the others gradually shorter, the
uppermost very small (8 em. long, 17 mm. broad); rachis acutely bifacod above,
flattish beneath, where armed at intervals of 2-3 em. with half-whorls of relatively
strong not very acuminato black-tipped claws. Male spadix Female
spadix not very elongate, rather stout, with few partial inflorescences; primary
spathes tubular, not very closely sheathing, thinly coriaceous, the lowest amongst
those extant in the specimen seen by mo, but not aofcually the first, cylindraceoustruncate
at the mouth, prolonged at one side into a short triangular point, this
slightly keeled and with a few scattered small tubercuiiform spinules on the back
upper primary apathes gradually smaller, cylindraceous, striate, ultimately decayed hut
not filamentoso at the mouth, quit© unarmed, suddenly narrowed at their base
into a slender, unarmed, flattened, sub-bicoDvex and acutely edged axial portionj
the intermediate spathes about 15 cm. long and 10-12 mm. broad in their larger
sheathing portion; partial inflorescences not very diffuse, panicled, arising erect from
their respective epathes aad then spreading, arched or recurved, their axis robust at
the base, slender and filiform at the summit, rather short with many pery approximate
subtrifarious or (at least at the base) not exactly distichous spikelets, which
very suddenly decrease in length from the base of the inflorescence to its summit;
secondary spathes short, tubular, infundibuliform or cyathiform, loosely sheathing,
unarmed, finely striate, horizontally truncate and entire at the mouth, not or slightly
apiculate at on» side; spikelets inserted outside the mouth of their own spathe with
a rather distinct axillary callus, their axis slender, rigid and narrowing towards the
summit, aiched, patent, horizontal or defiexed; the lower ones, the largest, 6-7 cm.
long with 13-15 flowers on each side; the uppermost very small with l-'Z flowers
only; spathels very narrow at their base with a suddenly enlarged, shortly infundibuliform,
striolate, truocate, entire, not or slightly apiculate limb; involucrophorum
laterally attached near the base of the spathel above its OWQ, distinctly pedicellate
in the lower part of the spikelets, subsessile towards their summit, orbiculardisciform
with a narrow entire limb involucre flat, also orbicular-disciform and as
large as the involucrophorum; areola of the neuter flower depressed, callous; the
flowers are not always perfectly bifarious in one plane but are slightly assurgent
on the subscorpioid spikelets. FruiUvg perianih pedicelliform; the calyx shortly
tubular with a quite flat base and 3 broadly triangular spreading lobes; the
segments of the corolla slightly narrower than the lobes of the calyx and as long
as these. Fruit apparently globular and about 1 cm, broad; scales rather
C. kandariensis.'] BECCAM. MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMUS. 351
ehining, strongly convex not or very faintly channelled along the middle, yellowish
with darker tip.
UABITAT.—In the small Island of Taviuni of the Fiji group at 1,200 metr. above
the level of the sea, Weher Oct. 1881, No. I l l , in the Berlin Herb.
OBSERVATIONS.—I have seen of this some portions of a fruit-spadix, but of the
fruit only fragments of the scaly pericarp without the seed and the upper portion
(36 cm. long) of a leaf with only 3 leaflets on each side and without the summit
which is probably cirrifcrous, its uppermost leaflets being much reduced in size and
more distant than the lower ones as is usually the case with that kind of leaf-
I t has not very prominent characters but it is distinct in the group, by its
concolorous, inequidistant, remote, not fascicled, narrowly lanceolate 5-costate leaflets
the costae smooth ou both surfaces and the margins also smooth except at the
summit. It is the most easterly species of the genus, and X dare say of the
entire group of Lepidocaryeae cxcept Sagus. In its chief characters it would appear
to have some resemblance to C. kandariensis.
P l a t e 1-13.—Calamus vitiensis Warb. The summit of a leaf (under-surfaee);
portion of the female spadix.—These parts represent the entire type-specimen in the
BerUn Herb.
121. CALAMUS KANDARIENSIS Becc. in Rcc. Bot, Surv. Ind. ii, 210.
DESCRIPTION.—Scandent, rather slender. Sheathed stem 8-10 mm. in diam-
Leaf-sbeaihs strongly gibbous above, very obliquely truncate and naked at the mouth,
finely longitudinally striate, covered with an ashy soft cottony-furfuraceous easily
detachable indumentum and scantily armed with a few small short straiglit
horizontal spines or also altogether smooth; no leaf-sheath flagella in the specimens
seen by mc. Ocrea very short, indistinct. Leaves terminating in a rather long and
very slender cirrus; this armed with scattered or ternate very sharp small claws;
petiole short, 5 - 6 cm. long, flat above, convex beneath, where armed witli a few
solitary claws; rachis smooth and bifaced above, armed beneath with claws which
are solitary in its first portion and ternate upwards ; petiole and rachis fugaciously
cottony-fujfuraceous; the pinniferous part 4 5 - 5 0 cm. long; leaflets veiy few, patenter
almost horizontal, very inequidistant, usually closely approximate into 4-6 distant
pairs on each side, the pairs of one side alternate with or opposite to those
of the other side, narrowly lanceolate or oblanccolate, flat or very slightly concavoconvex,
usually almost , equally narrowed to both ends, acute at the base, gradually
acuminate at the summit into a • long subulate tip, thinly papyraceous, subshining
and of an uniform brown colour (when dry) on both surfaces, unicostate or very
obsoletely S^ô-coatate, the mid-costa very slender and the other costae still
more'lslender and inconspicuous; all naked on both surfaces ; transverse veinlets sharp,
approximate and interrupted; 1 margins quite smooth even at the extreme apex; the
largest leaflets, those about the middle, 20-22 cm. long, 2-2-5 cm. broad, the
lowest and the uppermost slightly smaller. Male spadix slender, 60 cm. long,
etraight at the base end nodding at the summit, inserted about the middle of