492 iSNALS OP THE HOYAL S O I i S I C SiHDES, OALCUTIi.
[C. fertiUs
faintly stnately Teined; stamens ivitli very thick filaments; anthers s»..iltate with
obtnse point and anricles; rudimentary ovai-y as long as Ih. stamens, divided into
3 hnear-sabulate bodies. The spikelets ai-e very compact on account of the Tory
«bbreviate secondary spikelets they bear; on this account the spadii is only
apparently simply decompound.—Other parts unknown.
HiiirAT.-Oerman Neiv Guinea: Bismark Ebenc, at IOC m. elevation, {LmUrhach
No. 2IS8 in Herb. Berol. )—Native name " Schiih."
OBSEEVATIOSS.—A specie» very characteristic by its short leaves with few B-oad
l-eostate grouped leaflets, the two of the summit highly connatc; by the short male
apad.x with dense partial inflorescences and by the not distinctly bifarious flowers
on the spikelets. Perhaps the affinities of 0. lauhrbachu are with those of the .roup
of C. mmncUamiji, ii I may judge from the remains of an apparently large ocrea.
Of C. Lai,kri„hii I have seen only an entire leaf and a male spadix without
the summit.
PLATE 227.—Calamus Lautorbachii Btcc. An entire l e a f ; male spadix,—From
Lauterbach'a type-specimen ia Herb. Berol.
196. CALAMUS I'ERTILIS Becc. sp. u,
DESCEIPTIOW.—I-maZfi spikolet. 15-18 cm. long, rigid, vermicular, cylindraceous,
slightly curvo^l and flcxuous, terminating in a slender inucm, composed of 20-24
tubular-iufuudibuliform almost symmetric spathels, wliicb are horizontally truncate and
decayed at the margin and coyered with a removable fuscous-furfuracoous indumentum;
involucropho'-um short, cupular, with a short truncate limb and containing two
equal collateral involucres and therefore two equal female flowers; tlie involucres
cupular, united by their bases and each furnished on its inner side with an indistinct
or not sharply defined ovate areola for the reception of a neuter flon-er, so that
apparently two sterile flowers are in contact between the two fertile ones'. FemaU
flowors about 5 aim. l,¡n-. Fruiting perianih split and esphnate under the fruit and
marcescoiit. Fruit ovate with a broad base, very shortly and suddenly boaked 18
mm. long, 10-11 ram. broad; scales in 18 series, yeliowish-bvow,,; narrowly'and
neatly ciiaunelled along the middle with a narrow very dark ititramarginai line, the
margins very narrowly scarioiis and finely erosely toothed, the tip short obtuse 'very
dark. Seed subglobular, about 1 .m. long, 8 mm. broad, 7 mm. thick, siiahtlv
flattened on the rapiial »ide with a very slight dspre:i8Íoií in the place of the
chalaza, irn-gularly pitted on the back; albumen bony, equable; embryo basal.—
Other parts unknown.
HABrr.\T.—British New Guinea; on Jit. Daymaji, discovered by W. E Armii
in 1891 and forwarded to me by the late Baron F. von Hueller.
OBSERVATIONS.-I have seen of this only 8 spikelets with a few bruised fruits and
two entire mature seeds, but rhese parts are so unlike the corrosponding ones of
the generality of the spccies that I have ventured to establish on them a new
one. Oaly 2 or 3 other Calami have constantly lollateral female flowers at each
BECCAKI. MONOGEAPH OP THE GENUS CALAMUS.
where each of the two
ۥ Macgregorii]
spathel, but this perhaps is the only
by a neuter one.
I t not Bcem related to any of the other species with geminate
and it soems to me
Calamus known to me, or at le:
to stand alone amongst the Papuan species of
amongst those where the female spadix is known.
PLATE 226, II.—Calamus fertilis Bcec. Fig. 5, an entire spikelet with two
mature fruits; fig, 6, portion of the spikelet represented in f. 5, enlarged 6 times;
fig. 7j fruiting perianth seen from above, enlarged 6 times; fig. 8, seed, dorsal
view; fig. 9, seed longitudinally cut through the embryo; figures 8, 9, of natural
197. CALAMUS MACGRECOKII Bcec. sp. n.
DiiScmmoN.—Scandent ? Leaf-sheath Leaves not cirriferous, petiole
. . . . , rashis in its upper portion bifaced above, flattish beneath, where irregularly
and rather densely armed from the base to the vôry summit along the middle and
at the sides up to a certain distance, with small claws; leaflets numerous, inequidietant
chiefîy near the sum mit, many of them regularly 2'5 cm. apart and the succeeding
ones separated by longer intervals ( 3 - 6 cm. ), thinly papyraceous, linear-ensiform,
equally narrowing towards both ends, not very acuminate at the apex, concolorous
and shining on both surfaces, tri-costulate ; the costae slender, furnished above with
a few long bristles; beneath only the mid-costa bristly; the inarginf remotely and
iidpressedly spinulous, the spiuules longer and more spreading neat the summit; the
largest leaflets 30 cm. long and 2 cm. broad : the upper ones suddenly shorter :
the two of the terminal pair free, but slightly decurrent one above the other at the
base. Female spadix not seen entire by me, apparently simply decompound; primary
spathes ; partial inflorescences short, rigid, patent, 16-20 cm. long, terminating
in a very short ( 1 em. long ) unarmed caudiculum, and with 8-10 spikelets on
each side ; secondary spathes thinly coriaceous, tubular-infundibuliform, unarmed,
entire and slightly obliquely truncate at the. mouth, prolonged at one side into a
short triangular point ; spikelets short, arched, spreading, the lower ones, the largest
3 - 4 cm. long at most, the upper ones shorter, attached to the bottom of their
respective spatlio through a strongly flattened, 6-7 mm, long, pedicel ; spathels short,
broadly asymmetrically infundibuliiorm, truncate and slightly apiculats ; involucrophorura
very short, dimidiatcly cupular; involucre cupular, truncate; areola of the
neuter flower conspicuous, broadly ovate or suborbicular with sharp raised margins or
sometimes concave and almost cupular. Fruiting perianih not pedicelhform, almost
entirely split and explanate under the fruit ; its calyx slightly callous and somewhat
narrowed towards the base. Fruit ovoid, 13-15 mm. long, 1 cm. broad, almost
equally narrowing towards both ends, HOT, mucronate and slightly mammillate at the
summit and terminated by the small persistent recurved stigmas; scales in 18 series,
opaque, light straw-coloured, very gibbous with a rather narrow channel along the
middle, the margins slightly paler and finely erosely toothed. Seed ovate, 8 mm.
long, 6 mm. broad, rounded at both ends, with a rather deep chalazal fovea on the
raphal side, coarsely alveolate on the back ; albumen equable ; embryo basal.