ANNALS OP THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA, IC. albus.
HABITAT,—Tonkin; in the forest of Mount Bavi, at about 700 metr. elevation,
Balansa, No. 4360: Nov. 1887, in Herb. Borol. and Kew.
OBSERVATIONS.—The fruit is a good deal like that of C. Doriaei, but it is less
elongate or more typically ovoid. It approaches also C. khasiamn, but this has
much larger fruit. According to a note of the collector, the fruit has a whitish
v e r y acid pulp.
C. phtyacanihui Mart, is a Dccmonorops, and therefore it has been possible to
•keep t h e suggestive specific name given by Warburg to this very distinct species.
PLATE 198.—Calamua platyaeanthus Warh.—Portion of leaf-sheath with base of
a leaf; an entire partial inflorescence of it fruit-spadix ; seed from dorsal ».ad
rapbal side, and longitudinally cut through the embryo.—From Balansa's type specim
e n in Herb. Bcrol.
169. CALAMUS ALBUS Pers. Enchir. i, 383 (excl. syn. Lour.); Mart. Hist, Nat.
Palm, iii, 342; Walp. Ann. iii, 491 and v, 832; Elume, Rumphia,
iii. 31 in note; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 137 and De Palmis, 29; Becc.
, 88; H. Wendl. in Kerch. Les Palm. 235.
C. rudenium ( n o t of Lo u r . ) Roxb . F l . I n d . 7 7G; Becc. in Ree. Bo t .
Surv. Ind. ii, 213.
Palmijuncus albus Rumph. Herb. Amb. v, 102, t. liii; Hassk. Neuer
Schlussel za Rumph'a Herb. Amb. 100 ^excl. many syn.).
DESCRIPTION.—High seandent and rather robust. Sheathed slcm 2—5 cm. in diani.
Leaf-sheaihs thick, almost woody, strongly gibbous above, light yellowish-green (like
t h e other parts of the plant) when dry, armed ( o f t e n very densely) with uniform
scattered, small, very narrow, straight acicular rather short (1 cm, long at most),
black-tipped, horizontal spines, which rest on a small bulbous light base. Ocreu very
short, liguliform. Leaves large, 2-3m. in the piuniforoua part; the cirrus very
l o n g and robust, armed at almost regular intorvals with half-whorls of very stout
black t i p p e d clawa; petiole very robust and rather short, up to 2 - 3 cm. " broad,
roundish, smooth or more or less prickly beneath, flat above and, like the first
•portion of the rachis, more or less, sometimes densely, armed with narrow,
short, straight, erect spines; margins also usually armed with short prickles; rachis
armed beneath aloBg the middle with at first solitary and upwards geminate and
t e r n u t e clawe, more or less distinctly bifaced above in its upper part ; leaflets
numerous, large, equidistant, rather remote ( 6 - 1 0 cm. a p a r t ) ; the lower ones usually
opposite, the upper ones alternate, papyraceous, rather firm, green and subconcclorous
on both surfaces, the largest slightly concavo-convex, narrowly or broadly lanceolate
almost equally tapering towards both ends, acute at the base, acuminate at summit
i n t o a briatly-s[)inulous tip, 5-co8tuIate; the costae rather slender, the 3 central
remotely bristly-spinulous above, the side ones usually, but not always, smooth
all about of the same strength, underneath all naked and very slightly prominent'
transverae veinlets not very conspicuous; margins rather closely spinuloua; the largest
leaflets, those a little above the base, 45-65 cm. long, 5-7 cm. broad, the
•C. a / b u s j BECCAEI. MOSOGRAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMUS. 445
lower onea somewhat narrower, the upper ones gradually smaller. Male tpadiz
Bupradecompound, forming a large and rather dense pyramidate panicle up to
2 m. in length, always shorter than the leaves, with a short and very robust
slightly flattened peduncular part (this 10 cm. long, S cm. thick), with many
approximate and gradually diminishing partial inflorescences; the uppermost of
these very small and bearing at its base a short inconspicuous tail-like few cm.
l o n g appendix, which ia the rudiment of the flagellum; primary spathes similar
in the male and female spadix, thinly coriaceous very short, tubular, the lowest
15 cm. long at most, the upper ones 5-8 cm. narrowly infundibuliform or
somewhat narrowed towards the base where flat on the inner side, very
closely sheathing, thinly coriaceous or pcrgamentaceous, truncate, entire and
naked at the mouth, prolonged at one side into a t r i a n g u l a r elongate dorsally
keeled point, smooth in their lower part and armed upwards, often rather
densely, with short p r i c k l e s ; lowest partial inflorescences 50-G0 cm. long (the upper
cues gradually shorter) with many branchlets on each side, of these the larger
ones, the lowest, 20 cm. long, with 12-13 spikelcts on each side; secondary .
spathea unarmed or nearly so, narrowly infundibi;liform, closely sheathing, 2-2-5 cm.
long, obliquely truncate and entire at the mouth, prolonged at one aide into a
t r i a n g u l a r acute point; male spikelets small, 3-4 cm. long; the upper ones shorter,
w i t h 12-15 very approximate flowers on each side, arched, spreading attached at the
mouth of their own apathe; spathela bracteiform, ovate, concave, strongly striately
veined, deflexed, with an acute aacendent point; involucre cupular, truncate, with an
acute tooth on each side. Female spadix very robust, in one specimen 1'5 m. in
length, simply decompound, with many rather approximate distichous partial
inflorescences and terminating with an aculeolate tail-hke, 15
long, appendix;
p r i m a r y spathes ae described above; partial inflorescences ins^srted
at the mouth of
t h e i r own spathe with a rather distinct axillary callus, rigid, spreading and somewhat
a r c h e d ; the larger ones, the lowest, up to 1 m. in length and with 12 spikelets
on each aide; the upper ones much shorter; secondary spathes tubular, slightly
i n f u n d i b u l i f o r m , 2 - 3 cm. long, entire, truncate at the mouth, prolonged at one side
i n t o a triangular acute erect point, finely striately veined, flat at the base on the
i n n e r side, unarmed or with 1-2 small spinules on the back near the summit;
spikelets horizontally inserted at the mouth of their own spathe, with a distinct
axillary callus, arched, rigid, slightly zig-zag-sinuous, the larger ones (the lowest)
up to 25 cm. long, with about 18-20 flowers on each side; the uppermost 6-7
cm. only, with fewer flowers; spathela infundibuliform, narrowed a good deal
towards the baae, horizontally truncate and entire at the mouth, slightly prolonged
at one side into a very short, broadly triangular point, glabrous, finely striately
veined; involucrophorum almost exsert f r om its own spathel and laterally attached to
t h e base of the one above, short, cupular, two-keeled and obsoletely bidentate
t h e side next to the axis; involucre cupular, very slightly exceeding
t he
involucrophorum, truncate, obsoletely bidentate on the side of the neuter flow
of
which the areola is rather large, distinctly lunate and rather sharply bordered.
Female flowers remote (about 1 cm. apart), patent, about 4 mm. long. Fruiting
perianth pedicelliform. The calyx campanulate, almost polished outside and not or indist
i n c t l y striately veined, split midway down into 3 broadly triangular lobes ; the segments