ANNALS OF THE] BOYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. [C. PIS'TCARPUS
cm. broad; the upper ones gradually smaller, the extreme 30 cm. long, 3'5 cm.
broad. S^adiccs unknown.
HABITAT.—Borneo, probably in Sarawak, Low in Herb. Kew.
OBSEBVATIO:TS.—Of thin large species I havo seen only an entire leaf witii its
sbeath, ibis completely unarmed,—a rare occurrence in the genus. Its aiSnities are
doubtless with the species of the group of C. paluslris, and its nearest ally seems
t o be C. nnifarius, from which it chiefly differs in t h e unarmed leaf-sheaths and short
petioles, which are smooth above and, as the first portion of the racliis, armed with,
t u b e r c a t a r spines at the sides.
PLATE 208.—Calamus subinermis ZI. Wendl. Lciif-sheath with base of the loaf;
first portion of the leaf (upper surface); one of the largest leaflets; the cirriferous
eummit.—From Low's specimen in the I l e r b . Kew.
178. CALAMDB PISICARPUS bl. Rumpbia, iii, 39; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 340;
Walp. Ann. iii, 490 and 8 3 8 ; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 132 and De
Palmis, 28 ; Bucc. Malosia i, 88 aud ilec. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii, 212.
C. oblongus j3. Bl. in Roam, aud Schult. Syst. Veg. iii, 2, 1324 {as to
cit. Herb. Amb. only, excl. the Javan plant which belongs to
Daf.monorops oblovgus Bl.
C. vcrus (not of Lour.) Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 209, 1st edit, ^partly).
Palmijuncus vcrus latifolius Humph. Herb. Amb. v, 106, 2, t. 55, f. 1.
DESCRipnos.—Scandent aud robust, naked canes about 2'5 cm. in diam.
almost cylindric or superficially costate with internodes aboiit 30 cm. long.
Leaf-sheaths gi-eeu, armed with long straight spines. Leaves cirrifcrous, large ;
petiole very short, the pinciferous part 1-5 m. long, cirrus 2'0-3 m. long, very
robust, strongly clawed; rachis armed with short aculei, leaflets alternate, scattered
(inequidistant ?), lanceolate, acuminate, 35-40 cm. long and about 5 cm. broad,
plicately many-costate with the mid-costa bristl^-spinulous. Male spadix
Female spadix I'S m. long, nodding or reflexed, non-flagelliferous, with many (8
i n the plate) remote partial inflorescences; these scorpioid, bearing many distichous
a l t e r n a t e , slender spikelcts; involucrophorum shortly pedicelliform. Fruiting perianth
pedicelliform. Fruit very small, almost sphaeric, pisiform, apiculate. Seed globose.
HABITAT.—Amboina. Rumph writes that it is common near the river Basso
(or Passo ?) Bagualena, where it was known by the name of " Rotang Way nr (Ua)
O r y , " and that it grows at the foot of the mountains in the country of Hitu, Laha
near Way. It receives also the names of " Ii. T u n i Daun Besar," " R, B u l u ' or
" U a Lou Cana." According to Rumph it is employed for many uses, such as
•walking sticks, handles for lancca, and principally for ropes because of the facility
•with which it is bent and twisted.
OBSERVATIONS.—Nobody after Rumphius has found this species again which,
however, I consider u very distinct one. It beats very considerable affinities with
C. aruensis] BBCOARI. MOINOGRAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMCTS. 461
C. aruensis Becc. and C. Ilolrungii Becc. d i f f e r i n g from the first in its leaf-sheaths
s t r o n g l y armed and from the second in the leaflets with the midcosta spinulous
above and in the smaller f r u i t . From C. unifariua it a p p a r e n t l y differs only in the
smaller fruit.
179. CALAMUS ARUENSIS Becc. Maiesia, iii, 61, and in Eec. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii,
212.
Calamus sp. No. 45, Becc. Malesia, i, 88.
DESCRIPTION.—Robust, scandent. Sheathed stem 3-4 cm. in diam. Leuf-sheat]is not
flagelliferous, very thick, almost woody, strongly gibbous above, obliquely truncate,
at the mouth, greenish even when dry, totally unarmed. Ocrea very short, liguliform,
naked. Leaves large, quite epetiolate, about 2 metres long in the pinniferous
p o r t i o n and terminating in a long, rather irregularly clawed cirrus ; rachis, in
i t s lowest part near the vagina, very robust, nearly 2 cm. broad, quite unarmed,
flattish above, a little higher up slightly biconvex and from about the middle to
t h e summit more or less bifaced and naked above, flat and armed beneath
along the middle, and sparingly also at the sides, with solitary claws ; leaflets not
v e r y numerous, about 30 in all, equidistant, usually alternate, 10-15 cm. apart on
each side ; r e r y firmly papyraceous, green even when dry, shining above, slightly
paler beneath, quite glabrous and smooth on both surfaces, large, broadly
lanceolate, almost equally narrowed towards both ends, acute at the base, where
d i s t i n c t l y callous beneath in the sinus formed by the plieature of tho blade at
i t s insertion, acuminate at the summit into a spinulous tip, plicate, many-nerved,
w i t h 5 acute and strong costae and other minor but distinct secondary nerves ;
all naked on both surfaces ; transverse veinlets very fine, excessively numerous and
v e r y approximate and continuous ; margins smooth in the lower third-part,
adpressedly spinulous upwards ; the spinules more spreading and more numerous
to-aards the summit, the lower one in the upper surface bordered with a narrow
polished band; the largest leaflets, those a little above the base, 40-50 cm.
long, 7-8'ô cm. broad ; those towards the summit gradually smaller and more
remote ; the first pair deflexed, strongly callous at the base, inserted just at the
mouth of the sheath and very small (15 cm. long and 15 mm. broad). Male
gpadiz Female spadix not very large, rather rigid and straight ; tlio portion
seen by me, which is without the base, is I ' l metre long, including a terminal subflagelliform,
slender, sparingly prickly, tail-iike, 25 cm. long appendix and
with 4 partial inflorescences ; upper primary spathcs elongate, tubular-cylindraceous
or very obsoletely angular, sHghtly larger at the base than at the summit, rather
closely sheathing, finely longitudinally striate, obliquely truncatc, entire and naked
at the mouth, slightly prolonger^ at one side into a short dorsally keeled, triimgular
point, totally smooth, with the exception of a few hooked prickles near the summit,
v e r y suddenly narrowed at the base into a very flattened unarmed axial portion ;
partial inflorescences inserted just at the mouth of their own spathe, spreading,
strongly arched, their axis robust at the base, gradually narrowing towards the
summit and terminating in a very small, inconspicuous, short, smooth caudiculum ;
t h e larger ones the lowest, -20 cm. long with 8 spikelets on each side; the
•uppermost shorter with half that number of spikelets ; secondary spathes very