ANNALS OF THE BOYAL BOTAUIC Q-AEDEN, OALCÜITA. [a. Menina.
the scales are in 20 series, pale greenisb-brown, faintly channelled along the middle,
not bordered by a darker line; their margins finely erose, the tip dark and seemingly
once finely fimbriate. The seed is distinctly and sharply dimidiate, convcx and
nearly smooth on the back, flattish on tho raphal side, and with the chalazal fovea
forming a very deep, narrow conical groove, filled with a very dark matter and
nearly passing through the entii-e equable albumen ; tho embryo ia baaal.
This remarkable species of the group with pedunculate spikelets inserted to
tha very bottom of their respectivo apatbe is distinguishable by its very robust
stem; tho petiole not spinulous above, the loafiets very numerous, equidistant, very
elongate-ensiform, very acuminate, with the mid-costa naked and two side-nerves
bristly above, and the mid-coata bristly beneath and the side-nerves naked ; the
Bpadices large, pyramidate, rather dense; the fruit small globose mucronate ; the
scales superficially channelled with a short point, the seed with a smooth surface
and equable albumen.
On the label of Zollinger's No. 3433 in the Herbarium at Bruxelles, Martius
has written : " Calamus, horti Bogoriensis in Java," from which it follows that
apparently Zollinger made the specimens of this species on plants cultivated
in the Botanic garden at Buitenzorg— a circumstance which will account for the
mixtures which, have occurred with specimens of C. Burckiams, a Javan
Pi^TE 165.—Calamus Zolliugerii Becc, Upper portion of a leaf-sheath with the
base of the petiole; two leaflets (under surface) with porlion of the rachis from
about tlie middle of tho leaf; the summit of a leaf with its terminal ciiTus; partial
inflorescence from a female spadix with ovaries in course of development; two
spikelets; one primary spathe.—From the specimen cultivated at Buitenzorg
as mentioned above.
PLATE 166.—Calamus Zollingerii Becc, Male partial inflorescence (in the lower
left-band corner) and summit of a partial inflorescence with very young fruit (in
the lo%ver right cornerà—both from Zollinger's No 343'5 in Martius' Herbarium at
Bruxelles; partial female inflorescence in flower (on the upper right side) from
Zollinger's No. 3433 in Herb. Barbey-Boissier ; portion of a female inflorescence
with mature fruit from the Leiden Herbarium; seed, central and dorsal side; seed
longitudinally cut across the embryo.
Perkins, Fragm. Fl. Philipp.
140. CALAMUS MEEKILLII Becc. sp. n.
C. maxitnus (not of Blanco) Becc.
DESOKIPTION.—Very large, and high scandent. Sheathed stem 6-7 cm. in diam.
Leaf-sheatlK thick, woody, reddish-brown; thoso of the upper part of the plant transversely
puckered or gibbous at the base of the petiole, armed with very numerous
small spiculae or rigid and very brittle bristles, 5-10 mm. long, of which a few are
very often confluent and form by their united bulbous bases short, interrupted, thick
and in their upper part swollen series, Ocrea short (or deciduous ?) represented by a
C. Merrillii.'] BECCAEL MONOGEAPH OF THE GENUS CAIAMUS, 391
brown exsuccous bristly-hispid rim on the mouth of the sheaths. Leaves very large,
the upper ones cirriferous; petiole very robust, as much as 3*0-4 cm. broad (in one
leaf 25 cm. long), polished, naked at the base and beneath, and like the first portion
of the rachis shallowly and broadly channelled above, armed at the margins with
numerous very short straight erect conic prickles; rachis in its first portion round
beneath, slightly channelled and with two acute spinulous angles above and broad sidefaces,
where are inserted the leaflets; higher up the spinulous angles are always more
approximate and finally they become united into a single acute remotely spinulous
salient angle; beneath, it is at first round and upwards obsoletely angular and
strongly armed with extraordinarily robust digitate claws; the cirrus very robust and
bearing at distances of 3-5 cm., -J-whorls of very stout broad-based black-tipped
claws; leaflets very numerous, equidistant, ajjproxiroate, 15-20 mm. apart in the
basal and intermediate portion, more distant towards the summit, elongate-ensiform,
shortly narrowed to and deeply plicate at the base, gradually acuminate from not very
far above tho base into a subulate apes, 40-45 era. long (the upper ones shorter)
25-27 maj. broad, papyraceous, opaque and concolorous on both surfaces when fullgrown,
apparently slightly mealy-white beneath when young, more or less distinctly
tricostulate, with the mid-costa I'ather strong, naked or sparingly bristly only near the
summit; the side costae slender and more or less furnished with long bristles above;
below the mid-costa furnished with long bristles and the side costae very slender and
naked; transverse veinlets inconspicuous; margins thickened by a rather distinct
margiuant nei've and minutely, rather spreadingly and rather closely spinulous. Male
spadit largo, broadly paoicled-pyramidate, shorter thau the leaves, about 1'2 m. long
with an erect rigid asis, and with about 5 distichous approximate gradually diminisliing
partial iiifloresceuces on each sido, not flageiliferous at its apex and terminating
in an unarmed sheatheil tail-like appendix; primary spathes rather short, 10-12
cm. long in the exposed part, tubular, closely sheathing, the lowest flattened, slightly
longer, the others armed with short scattered prickles on the back and with a few
long spines at its base on the not very sharp edges; upper primary spathes subcylindraceous,
slightly enlarged above, thinly coriaceous, often longitudinally split but
not lacerated, more or less sprinkled with small solitary, scattered, short, semi-conic
prickles, entire and naked at the mouth and prolonged at one sido into a tiianeular
acuminate point; partial inflorescences inserted at the bottom of their own spathe
with a long pedicelliform part, rather dense, pyramidate; the lower ones, the largest,
35-40 cm. long with 6-7 gradually decreasing secondary inflorescences or spicigerous
branchlets and terminating in a short unarmed sheathed appendix; secondary spathes
tubular-cylindraceons, slightly iufundibuliform, about 3 cm. long in the exposed
part, almost horizontally truncate and naked at the mouth, shortly apiculate at one
side, glabrous, thinly coriaceous, entire or sometimes longitudinally split but not
lacerated; secondary inflorescences ascendent, stalked and inserted inside at the
baso of their respective spathes; the lower ones, the largest, 14^15 cm. loug with
13-15 erecto-patent pinnate spikelets on each side; tertiary spathes (spathes of the
branchlets) shoitly infundibuliform, horizontally truncate, entire and naked at the
mouth, shortly apiculate at one side; spikelets also inserted inside at the bottom of
their own spathe with a distinct flattened pedicel, the lower ones, the largest,
about 25 mm. long, veiy brittle, with 11-12 very approximate, flatly bifarious
flowers on each side; spaihols very closely packed, concave-subcymbiform, with a