4 4 INTRODUCTOEr ESSAY.
T h e leading difFerence b e t w e e n a Galamus and a Daemonorops is of a biological
c h a r a c t e r and resides essentially in tne f u n c t i o n subserved by their spadices or
a p a t h e s ; these organs in fact are so modified as either to be of some assistance to
t h e plant in climbing, or, when this is not the case, t h e spadices appear to be direct
m o r p h o l o g i c a l dérivâtes, and the f u n c t i o n of a s s i s t i n g the plant to climb is then
s u b s e r v e d b y the leaf cii'ri.
I n Daemonorops the spadices never sei-ve as climbing organs and their spathes,
f r o m the very first, are utilized to enclose and protect the flowers, being besides
a l w a y s shoi-t in comparison with those of a Calamus.
I n Oaiamiis t h e spathos, even in spadices that are not c i r r i f e r o u s at their summits
a n d that are c o m p a r a t i v e l y short, are elongate and p e r s i s t e n t , at least in their basal
p a r t which is always? t u b u l a r ; t h e y are also, like the spiral part of t h e spadix, more
or lei=s a r m e d with hooked prickles—^the kind of spines t h a t aid t h e plant to climb.
I f , as sometimes happens, the spathes of Calamus are not t u b u l a r but are open,
flat, and laminar, the axis of the spadix is n e v e r t h e l e s s elongate and more or less
a r m e d with claws, at least at its apex.
i n Damonorops all tho spathes, with the exception in some cases of the basilar
one, a r e deciduous, usually broad and open t h o u g h o u t their e n t i r e v e n t r a l aspect a n d,
m o r e especially, are never armed with hooked prickles ; t h e y have t h e r e f o r e no
o r g a n s at all to assist the plant in c l i m b i n g ; moreover, the axis of t h e s p a d i x , which
i s usually short, never bears claws and never shows any t e a d e n c y to become
f l a g e l l i f o r m .
Among the species of Qalamts X k n ow only C. kypokuous, a very anomalous
P a l m , -which has short spadices and broad c y m b i f o r n i u n a r m e d spathes, a good deal
r e s e i n b l i n g those of a Daemonorops. C. Lolhiamis, 0. conirnstris and G. brachijstachjs
h a v e also spathes somewhat r e s e m b h n g those of a Daemonorops, but in these species,
w h i c h also f o rm a group s t a n d i n g alone in the genus, the s t r u c t u r e of the spikelets
a n d flowers is th8.t of t r u e Calami. In fact, the spikelets of Calamus, especially the
f e m a l e ones, are somewhat dilferent from those of Daemonorops; in these the
s p a t h e l s are less developed and g e n e r a l l y are reduced to a mere scale or to a short
m e m b r a n o u s ring, and the involucrophore is elongate and stout so t h a t usually the
f r u i t of a Daemonorops appears distincly stalked. Moreover, female flowers of
Calamus are d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e at a glance f r o m those of Daemonorops : in the former
genu"» t h e y have t h e c a l y x d i s t i n c t l y 3-toothed or 3-lobed a n d the corolla h a r d l y longer
t h a n the calyx : i n the latter, as a general rule, the calyx is almost t r u n c a t e at the
mouth and the corolla is conspicuously longer t h a n the calyx.
T h e f r u i t in the two genera is v e r y similar, b a t a fruit with a seed in wliich
t h e albumen is homogeneous can never be t h a t of Daemonorops, though t h e r e are not
a few Calami with a r u m i n a t e d seed such as, without a single exception, we find in
No Daemonorops e v e r b e a r s l e a f s h e a t l i n o r a r e i t s lei p a r i p i n n a t e
t o w a r d s the apex, which is always c i r r i f e r o u s.
T h e r e f o r e a climbing Palm which has flagelliferous leaf sheaths, flagelliferons
l e a v e p a r i p i n n a t e to the apex, homogeneous seeds and t u b u l a r spathes never
THE NAME OP THE GENUS. 45
c a n be a Daemonorops. With this ensemiU of c h a r a c t e r s we can always succeed in
d i s t i n g u i s h i n g a Calamus from a Daemonorops and in most cases we can do this even
if T e s p e c L e n s are in a s t e r i l e c o n d i t i o n , at any rate if t h e y b e l o n g to an adult
p l a n t .
X X I X —Calamus or Palmijuncus 9
Dv. Otto K u n t z e i a his " KevMo G s n e m m P t a t a r u n , , " p. 173 believcB that
t h e name Lit,n., must give ^vay to t h a t of P d » ) » » ' R u m p h ; accordingly
a l l the spcciea of C a í « k n o w , to the iU»BtrionB author are registered m pages
7 8 1 - 7 3 4 of the ahovo quoted work under the g e n e r i c nanie of Palnuju«»,. A, the
I d L t í o n „( the l a t t e r n l e involves a v o . o d question ot n o n i e n c k t u r e regar mg
S am u n w i l l i n g to express an opinion, 1 h a v e l e f t nsatters as t h e y have long
Ttood I h a v e only to r e m a A that the s u h s t i t u t i o n of t h e name of Fal^.juncus tor the
n a l e « « dooj n o t help to s i m p l i f y the a l r e a d y v e r y i n t r i c a t e syiionyrey under
Calamus. , • , • .r ^
I have t h e r e f o r e continued to uso the generic name. Caíam», thinking that
i t w l l ^ a quite e a . y and at the same time a not u n p l e a s a n t task f o r some one
l o may take delight in adding his own name to new species, to change into
Palmijmd all t h o s e placed by me u n d e r the genus 0«lam«B.
W i t h roo-ard to this subject, however, I have to point out t h a t the genus Pal-
„ . ) » « » , as u n d e r s t o o d by Dr. 0 . Kuntze, includes both O.bnm, and D a ^ o p , two
g ^ n e i a ; h i c h I consider it convenient to keep separato. As Dr. 0 . K u n t . e appears
t o have taken as the type of the genus Pdmvjuncm tho hrst species puOlisnea BJ
E u m p h in t h e " H o r b a i i u m " u n d e r t h a t genus, and as tho specie, in que.rtion is Palm,-
,•««„» CaUppa,im, which is a t y p i c a l mmonorcp', the generic name it
r e s u s c i t a t e d at .11, o u g h t to correspond to the name Daemomrop, and net t o t h e name
Calamus.
XXX.—Geo<irHphicf.il T>isirihutU>n.
More t h a n 300 species of t r o e Cahmm are at present k n o w n ; these without a single
e x c e p t i o n are natives of the Old World. Their chief home is in the primeval hot
a n d h u m i d f o r e s t s of tropio.J and subtropical Asia, and of the Asiatic A r c h i p e l a g o s ;
a few only are A f r i c a n and A u s t r a l i a n.
T h e regions of the world where Calami are most a b u n d a n t a r e : — t h e Malayan
P e n i n s u l a , with 31 spccies; Borneo, with 30 s p e c i e s ; Burma, with 24 s p e c i e s ; Siam,
C o c h i n - C h i n a and Lower China, with 18 s p e c i e s ; New Guinea, with 18 species; the
P h i l i p p i n e s , with 17 species; J a v a , with 14 s p e c i e s ; S o u t h e r n India, with 13 species;
Ceylon, w i t h 11 s p e c i e s ; S u m a t r a , w i t h 10 species. After these, a r r a n g e d in accordance
w i t h t h e n u m b e r oí species that t h e y possess, come Tropical Africa, Celebes, tho
Moluccas, the Sikkim Himalayo, the Assam Hills, E a s t e r n Bengal, Australia.
T h e five or sis known Australian species are chiefly confined to the coast
of Queensland and only one, C. Mmllerii, extends f u r t h e r south, to the n o r t h e rn
p a r t of the coast of New South Wales, where it h a s been f o u n d on t h e Clarence Eiver
a t about Lat. 39° 30' S. This is in fact the most southern r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of tlio
genus a n d is the o n l y one t h a t grows outside t h e t r o p i c s in t h e S o u t h e r n H e m i s p h e r e.
I n t h e N o r t h e r n Hemisphere no species of Oahtnm extends n o r t h of Lat. 30° N.
•0. iemá, which is one of t h e most western of the Asiatic species is also t h e one that