ANNALS OP THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CATCDTTA. [C- Lobbianus
flowers each, and further with 2 other distinct series of neuter flowers, these
slightly smaller than the fertile ones; upper opikelets speedily decreasing in length
and number of flowers; spathels very approximate, bracteiform, concave; involucrophorvuu
cupular, half exsert from its own spathel; involucre large, deeply cupular
witli somewhat irregular margin; areola of the neuter flower lunate, often irregularly,
sharpiy bordered. Female floivcm comparatively large, about 7 mm. long. Fruiting
perianth campanulate; the calyx smooth at the base, divided midway down into 3
broad triangular strongly striately veioed acute lobes; these often with a black
shining margin; the corolla also divided midway down into three acute lobes which
are narrower than but as long as the lobes of the calyx; stamens forming by their
united bases a cupular urceolura, this reaching about to the middle of the corolla
and crowned by very short teeth. Fruit rather large, quite smooth, about 3 cm.
long, 15 mm. broad, narrowly ovoid, somewhat tapering towards the base and gradually
attenuated at the summit into a large conic beak, this crowned by the rather large
recurved stigmas; scales in 15 series, slightly convex, not channelled along the middle,
almost black, yellow in the basal covered part, shining, the point rounded and, like
the margin, coarsely erosfcly toothed. Seed ovoid, rather acute at the summit, finely
tubercled all round, 14 mm. long, 10 mm. broad; albumen very deeply ruminatedembryo
situated a little above the base.
HABITAT.—The Malayan Peninsula; in the district of Perak at Goping, at an
elevation of 100-300 metre., collected by Soortechini-, and in the same district, by
King's colheior (Nos. 5808 and 4593 in Herb. Calc.). -
OBSEEVATIONS,—Among the specimens of this Calamtis in the Calcutta Herbarium
is a strong aculeate flagellum 2'0 m. long, which apparently belongs to it. Que
of Scortechini's specimens has tbe female spadix with one and another with
2 inflorescences. In a male spadix the inflorescences are 3. The leaf-sheattis of these
specimens are less spinous than in those of the Calcutta Herbarium. C. conirostris is
allied to 0. Lohhianus, but easily distinguishable by its climbing habit and the
leaflets not being chalky-white underneath. From C. brachystachtjs this differs in the
more elongate spadix terminated by a long flagelliform appendix.
The fruit of C. conirostris is of un uniform black colour with the scales not very
easily distinguishable one from the other and forming a polished and almost even
surface, because of their convex and not channelled dorsum; the orthostichies are 15,
but their disposition in 8-9 oblique spiral series is more apparent.
PLATE 220.—Calamus conirostris Becc. The summit of a plant with an entire
male spadix; portion of the sheathed stem with a fruit-spadix; basal portion of a leaf
seen fiom the lower surface; mature f r u i t ; need entire and lougitudinally cut through
t h e embryo.—From Scortechini's specimens in Herb. Uecc.
CALAMUS LOBBIANUS Becc. in Hook. iil. Fl. Brit. Ind.
Ree. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii, 215.
462, and in
C. fnelanocarpus Kidley in Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. II, iii, ( 1893) 392.
DESCBIPTION.—Standing, 2—2"5 metres high from the ground to the top of tbe
eaves with a short stem about -iO cm. high, 14-18 cm. in diam.
C. Lobbianus'] BECOARI. MO.NOGRAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMUS. 483
flhort, open on the ventral side, very densely armed with long and short,
flattened, laminar, light-coloured spines. Leaves l'S-2 ni. long, non-cirriferous ;
petiole very long, flattish and smooth above, rounded beneath, where smooth along
the middle, armed at the margins with very unequal, short and long spines ; these
last remote, horizontal, acicular, up to 3 cm. long; rachis in its upper part acutely
bifaced above and armed beneath along the middle with small solitary and distant
claws ; leaflets numerous, equidistant, cm. apart on each side, papyraceous,
very conspicuously discolorous, green and opaque above, and clothed beneatli with a
adpressed white substance (as if they were thinly coated with lime), ensifnrm or
lanceolafce-ensiforni, from below the middle attenuated towards the base, acuminate
upwards to a ¿liform, 3-4 cm. long, bristly tip, not very distinctly S-costulate,
the mid-costa prominent and strong, the side-costae a good deal more slender and
barely distinguishable from other secondary nerves: all naked above; beneath all
nerves less distinct than above, and only the mid-costa sometimes bristly near the
summit ; transverse veinlets slender and indistinct beneath, being covcred there by the
chalky indumentum mentioned above ; margins smooth, the lower one somewhat
thickened and bordered with a very narrow shining band in the upper surface; the
largest leaflets seen by me (apparently the intermeiiiato ones) 40 cm. long, and
2 ' 5 - 3 cm. broad ; the upper ones shorter, but not narrower, with their apical
caudiculum somewhat sliortei- and thicker than in the lower ones, and often with a
distinct indentation at its base on the lower margin; the two uppermost the smallest,
obtuse, somewhut unequal and free at the base. Male and female gpadices conform,
rusty-furfuraceous, intcrfoliar, erect or arising from the crown of the leaves, with
only one or two approximate and dense partial inflorescences at the summit of a long
peduQCular part; this flat on the inner side, and slightly convcx externally, about 5
mm. broad, and gradually transformed into the largest and principal apathe; the
spadix itself terminates in a caudate appendix—15-20 cm. loug and formed by
1 - 2 abortive prickly spathes. The main spathe is persistent, rigid, thinly coriaceous,
fusiform or elongate-ventricose, open on the ventral side, gradually narrowed towards
the summit into a rather long rostrum, and armed on the back with acicular unequal
short or long (as much as 2 cm.) spreading or deflexed, solitary or subseriate spines;
in one specimen a mulo spadix is 40 cm. long, including the peduncular part, has
two partial inflorescences, of which the upper one smaller with a spathe similar to
the first; larger male partial inflorescence very dense, pyramidate, about 8-10 cm.
long, with 10-12 very closely packed unilateral spikelets ; secondary spathes very
short and approximate, bracteiform, concave, amplectent, cottony ; spikelets very short
and dense, decreasing in number of flowers from the base to the summit of the
inflorescence : the lower ones, the largest, with 5-6 distichous very approximate
on each side: the uppermost reduced to 1-2 flowers; spathels very closely
together, broadly ovate, acute, concave, bracteiform, embracing the involucre and the
flower, finely striately veined, ciliate, and more or less cottony; involucre calyciform,
campanulate, finely striately veined, irregularly cleft or lobate. -Male flowers
large, about I cm. long, ovoid, roundish at the base, tapering upwards to a
not very acute point ; calyx thin in texture, finely striately veined outside,
shortly 3-toothed ; corolla ( i n full-grown buds) somewhat less than twice the length
of the calyx, divided almost to the base into 3 lanceolate acute thinly coriaceous,
externally striate> and, at the summit, thickened segments; stamens with the
AMN, HOY. Boi'. GARD. CALCUITA VOL. XI.