466 ANIFALS OF THE ROYAL BOTAMIC GARDEN. C A L C U i r i. [C' paohystachys
from their lower third-part upwards gradually acuminate into an obtuse and at the
summit spinulous point, their mid-costa solitaiy, acute and prominent above where
sparingly bristly spinulous only near the summit, superficial and naked beneath; sidenerves
slender and naked on both surfaces; margins very conspicuously ciliated
with spreading, rather approximate and long bristly spinules ; the lower one slightly
thickened by a nerve; transverse veinlets crowded and fine. Malo spadix
Fcmah spadiz not seen entire by me but seemingly rather large and robust ; in
one specimen a partial inflorescence is about 40 em. long, rigid and robust,
and terminates iu a tail-like, rigid, almost unarmed appendix and bears a-4
spikelets on each side ; prioiary spathes ; secondary spatliea quite smooth,
tubular-iQfundibuliform, thinly coriaceous, 4-5 cm. long, more or less sprinkled with
fuscescent furfurareous scales, narrowed a good deal towards the base, whore flat
on the inner and convex on the outer side and with shai-p margins, truncate and
entire at the mouth, prolonged at one side into a broad and short triangular point ;
spikelets thick, subterete-vermiform, attached at tlie mouth of their respective spathe,
not or indistinctly callous at their insertion, strongly arched, tcrniinating in a very
short rigid caudiculum, the lower ones, the largest, about 15 cm. long with 7
pairs of flowers ou each side; spathels tubular-infuudibuliform, somewhat narrowed
towards the base, horizontally truncate and entire at the mouth, sprinkled with
fuscescent furfuraceous scales, aplculate at one side, usually subtending two perfectly equal
female flowers, or sometimes near the summit of the spikelet only one; involucrophorum
attached at the base of the spathel above its own, short, suboupular,
transversely broader, two-keeled, bidentate and emarginate on the side next to the
axis; involucres geminate, cupular, with a short and truncatc limb, superficially
bidentate, with the margin Innately excavate on the inner side where the
involucres are in contact, but with a small cavity between the two. Female flowers
narrowly ovate; the calyx slightly ventricose with 3 short triangular teeth; the
segments of the corolla narrower than the lobes of the calyx a)id not quite as
long. Fruiting perianth very distinctly pedicelliforra, cylindraceous, 3-3-5 mm.
thick. Fruit when almost ripe subglobose-ovoid subturbinate or slightly tapering
towards the base, suddenly contracted at the summit into a small conical acute
mucro, 15-17 mm. long, including the muero and the caudiculum, 10-12 mm.
broad; scales shining, in 17-18 series, brownish or reddish-yellow, strongly convex
and deeply channelled along the middle, with a short point and a narrow almost
black iutnxmarginal line; the margin erosely toothed. Seed globular, about 11 mm.
long and 9 mm. thick, very similar to that of C. didjmocarpus; albumen dcejjly
ruminate; embiyo placed slightly above the base.
HAIUTAT.—Celebes, at Wawo Kraeng on the high mountains in the southern part
of the Island, Warhirg in Herb. Berol.
OBSERVATIONS.—This is a very near ally of C. didymocarpus, but its leaflets are
a good deal smaller and more distinctly lanceolate; the spadiees more robust, more
rigid and shorter; the spikelets more rigid and thickcr and the fruit is conically
beaked. The female flowers are almost constantly geminate at each spathel except
near the summit of the spikelets where sometimes they are solitary; when this is
the case on the outer side of the involucre occurs a very distinct and sharply
0. didymcarpus] BECCARI. MO^'OGHAPH OF THE GEM US CALAMUS. 467
bordered areola for the neuter flower. Besides C. pachystachys and C. didymoaarpus,
another specios from New Gruinea, very imperfectly known {C. fertilis Becc.), has
geminate female flowers at each spathel, but iu this the seed is not ruminated,
and evidently it belongs to a different group from the two mentioned above, which
apparently are akiu to C. Vidaliamts. In this also I have found sometimes two
female flowers, but I have not seen the two exactly equally evolute.
Of 0. paehystachys I have seen a partial inflorescence with almost ripe fruit,
and an almost entire leaf, cm. long in the pinniferous portion, with the rachis
8 mm. thick at its base.
PLATE 212.—Calamus paohystachys Warh. Upper portion of a leaf and its terminal
cirriferous summit ; partial inflorescences of a spadix with almost mature fruit.—From
Warburg's type-specimen in Herb. Berol.
183. CALAMUS OIDYMOCAEPDS W a r b , (III only in Herb. Berol.)
DESCRIPTION.—Scandent, robust. Stem Leaf-sheaths Leaves
large (only the summit of one seen by me) terminating in a robust cirrus, which is
2 metres iu length and fearfully armed with rather approximate half-whorls
of very acuminate and robust black-tipped claws; these often intermingled with
others solitary or more or less aggregate and irregularly set; petiole ;
rachis in its upper portion blfaced above with acute and smooth angle, rather convex
beneath, where strongly armed with half-whorls of claws as on the cirrus;
leaflets of the summit of the pinniferous part remotely inserted (8-10 cm. apart), the
largest of these, the lower ones 43 cm. long, 4 cm. broad, the upper ones narrower
and shorter, papyraceous, firm in texture, somewhat longitudinally j'Hcate, green even
when dry, glabrous, concoloroiis and shining on both surfaces, lanceolate-ensiform,
almost equally narrowed towards both ends, more or less callous in tho axilla at
their insertion, gradually acuminate from the middle upwards into a not very ¡icuto
and at the sides bristly-spinulous tip; the mid-costa rather acute and prominent
above where sparingly bristly-spinulous, superficial and naked beneath; secondary
nerves numerous, slender but rather distinct and naked on both surface; transverse
veinlets very fine, sinuous and close together; margins slightly thickened by a nerve
and ciliato mainly near the summit with short rather spreading and rather approximate
spinules. Male spadis: Female spadix, judging from the portion seen by
me, largo and diffuse ; primary spathes ; a partial inflorescence (the only one
seen by me) about 1 meti-e in length, comparatively slondtr, with 6-7 spikelets on
each side, secondary spathes tubular, slightly infundibuliform, 6-7 cm. long, closely
sheathing, armed chiefly on the outer side near the base with numerous, small, broadbased,
black-tipped claws and covered with very numerous and confluent rusty scales,
narrowed a good deal towards the base into an axial portion, which is convex on
the outer and flat on the inner side, entire, truncate and naked at the mouth
prolonged at one side into a short triangular acuie point, sometimes with a smaller
but similar point on the other side and therefore subbilabiate; spikelets inserted above
the mouth of their respective spathe with a rather distinct axillary calks, elongate,
vermicular, flexuose, the lower ones the largest, even 25 cm. long, with 18 female
ANN. EOY. BOT. G-AHD. CALCUTTA ¥OL. S I .