4 0 8 ANNALS 05" THE BOTAL BOTA^ILC GAEDEN, CALCUTTA. [C. JATIFOHUS.
iDfundibuliform, uarrowed a good deal to the base, faintly striatoly veined, entire,
apiculate at one side, ciliolate-paleaceous at the mouth ; iiiTolucrophorum enclosed
i n t o its own spathel and inserted at the base of that above, dimidiately cupular,
r a t h e r deep, very acutely bidentate, two-keeled and deeply exeavatc ou the side next
t o the axis, where not callous ; involucre moulded ou and immersed in the involucrop
h o r um with 2 projecting teeth (separated by a siiius) on the side of the neuter
flower, of -which the areola is distinctly lunate and with sharply defined borders.
Female fiowers about 5 mm. long ; the calyx finely striately veined, cut half-way
down into S broad semi-ovate acute lobes; segments of the corolla as long as the
c a l y x but n a r r o w e r ; iilaments of the stamens united by their bases into a cup^
t r i a n g u l a r and black in the free portion, Fniiting perianth not distiiictly pedicelliform.
Fruit
HABITAT.---It ranges from Cbittagong in Bengal to the sub-Himalayan hills cf
Sikkim, Nepal and Boo t a n ascending from the level of the sea to an elevation of
about 700 metres.
Roxburgh has fouiided the species upon specimens gathered in Chittagong uear
t h e coast, where it has been found again at Seetakoond [Ilooksr f . ) and at Paroha
{Gamble). According to Anderson it grows in Sikkim near the Btream Rayem in the
T e e s t a valley at an altitude of 150 metres, about -i miles from the plain; the same
author adds that he has observed it (liis C. macracanthm) in the valleys between the
T e e s t a and Tchail in the first hills of Bootan. From Sikkim Lieut.-Col. Prain has
f o r w a r d e d me specimeus (those I have described) with very young fruit, gathered
on dry ground at Sivoke ou the gentle outer slopes of the Himalaya.
T h e native name in Chittagong assigned by E o s b u r g h is " K o r a k - B h e t . " Anderson
gives the Lepcha names of " R u e b e e " and " G-reem," and Gamble that of "Phekori-
Bhet." Its rattan is very long, and when freed f r om the sheaths is about as thick
as a slender walking cane.
OBSEEVATIONS.— C. laiifolius is characterized by large leaves which are cirriferou»
in the full-grown plant, with very concavo-convex 5-7-costulate, lanceolate leaflets,
which are distinctly geminate on each side of the rachis with long vacant spaces
interposed, and the large flat often subrcgular verticillate spines of its leaf-sheaths.
I think, however, that C. latifolius is distinguishable with great difficulty from C.
pahistris; only the leaflets of the first seem more herbaceous in texture, more
r e g u l a r l y geminate, more concavo-convex and not furnished with an axillary callus
at their insertion and the spines are more distinctly confluent in whorls ; other
difference perhaps may be found in the f r u i t , which in C. latifolius is known only
i n a very young state. If the identity of the two mentioned species could be
proved, the name of 0. laiijolius has the precedence as more ancient.
T h e young plants of 0. latifolius are erect and have not cirjiferous leaves. In
f a c t one leaf from a young plant of this species collected by Sir Dietrich Erandis at
Sivoke on the Teesta terminates in a large bipartite leaflet. From this I am inclined
t o suppose that Roxburgh had assigned the name of C. humilis (also a native of
Chittagong) to a young plant of C. laiifolius or perhaps of C. inerinis—ifio species
C. latifolm.'] BECCAEI. MONOGEAPH OP THE GENUS CALAMUS. 409'
v e r y difficult to distinguish in the juvenile stage. Griffith also very likely speaks of
y o u ng plants of C. latijolius when he w r i t e s : — " T h e r e were also specimens found
among the dried plants of the Botanic Garden without names, bat which are said to
have been prepared from plants growing a long time ago in the Gardens; these, had
t h e petioles (rachis Becc.) been flagelliforous, I should have referred to C. latifolius"]
Palms Brit. India, p. 67 under C. iloribundus. Furthermore in the large work of
Griffith in the observations on C. laiifolius, we read " I have a personal knowledge
of this species", whereas in the Calcutta journal the same phrase is w r i t t e n : — "I
have no personal knowledge, etc."; this last version being doubtless the correct one,
as the descnptiou and the plato of 0. laiifolius in Griffith's work are f r om R o x b u r g h;
moreover in the same lines in the Calcutta journal the author adds " I t {C. latifolius)
appears to be allied to the succeeding species; " viz. 0, paluslrisf and this is perfectly
correct, while in tho illustrated large work the succeeding species are C. insignis first,
t h e n comes C. gminiflonis and lastly C. palusiris. It clearly follows f r om the above
t h a t Griffith made the comparison between C. laiifolius and 0. pahistris, as the place
of C. insignis has boon changed and C. geminijlorus added by the publisher of the
posthumous edition. As to 0. macracanihus T. And,, I have no reason to doubt its
i d e n t i t y with C. latifolius.
PLATE 176.—Calamus latifoUiis Boxb. Portion of tho sheathed stem with base of
a leaf and lower portion of a female spadix; very young detached fruits belonging
to the above-mentioned specimen.—From a specimen collected in Sikkim and forwarded
t o me in 1902 by Lt,-Col. D. Prain.
CALAMUS LATU-OLIUS var. MARMOR4TUS Becc.
DESCRIPTION.—High scandent, more slender than tho type. Sheathed ¡(em 2 cm. in
d i a m . ; naked canes 1 cm. thick with a polished surface and internodes 15-20 cm.
long. Leafskeaths of the younger sboots marbled with alternating mealy white and
dark green transverse bands, more or less armed as in the type with broad solitary
or subverticillate spines and furthermore in the intervals with much smiiller triangular
spines, which have a broad base and are at first adpressed and erect and
a f t e r w a r d s horizontal and disposed in transverse unequal interrupted undulate series.
Leaves smaller than in the type and with fewer pairs of leaflets, these also smaller,
t h e largest 25-28 cm. long, 6 cm. broad, but exactly oE the same shape, conspicuously
concavo-convex, usually oblong or oblanceolate, distinctly geminste ou each
side, with one or more broad longitudinal shining bauds on the upper surface;
petiole with a f ew erect spinules on its upper surface. A)ale spadix simply decompound,
similar to the female one of the typo, but with more densely spinous primary
s p a t h e s ; spikelets comparatively broad, about 3 em. long, with 8 - 1 2 flowers on each
s i d e ; spathels very closely packed, bracteiform, concave, sometimes with a deiiticulate
m a r g i n and prolonged at one side into a triangular acute point, which projects
beyond tho involucre and subtends the flower; involucre dimidiately cupular, deep,
acutely bidentate, sharply two-keeled and deeply excavate on the side next to the
axis. Male flowers ovate, 5 mm. long; the calyx finely striately veined, divided
about midway down into 3 broad acute lobes; the corolla one-third longer than the
c l y j .
ANN. BO*. B o r . GAUD. CIO^CDRRA. TOL. X I.