124 AIFUALS OF T H E ROYAL BOT.IITIC GAEDE^T, CAICUTTA [C. erectus.
OBSERVATIONS.—The characteristics assigned by Roxburgh to Ins C. erectus are nofe
m a n y , but t h e y are sufficient f o r a sure i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . 1 have based my description
of thia species mainly on t h e speciaiens collected b y Mr. C. B. Clarke and by Mr. G.
Mann in the Khasia Hills.
K u r z (Jourii. As. Soc. 1. c.) r e f e r s 0. longisetus G-riff. to C. crecius, from which,
however, it is p e r f e c t l y distinct (see observadons under C. longisetus). The same
a u t h o r refer.s also C. macroearpus Griff, to C. ereetus, and in this he is c e r t a i n ly
c o r r e c t . Griffith had based the description of 0. macrouarpus on a f r u i t i n g specimen
g a t h e r e d by Major J e n k i n s near K o r e a h p a r a b , one of the Duars of Bhutan. The
figure of C. 7nacrocarpus in Griffith's large work (fig. I, |plate 186 A) evidently
r e p r e s e n t s the summit of a spadis clawed in the a t t e n u a t e d portions of its main
axis, but this may be also very f r e q u e n t l y observed in the most typical specimens
of C. ereciiis. The v e r y peculiar lacerate marcescent spathes of C. crecius are fairly
r e p r e s e n t e d in Griffith's quoted figure of C. macrocarptis. The fruits of this species
i n iig. I of the said plate are 4 cm. in length by 2 5 - ^ 7 men. in diam. and look
as if they were p e r f e c t l y ripe. In this stage the f r u i t s of many species of Calamus
i n c r e a s e considerably in volume by the pressure of the fleshy and watery tissues
of the interior which stretch the scaly coating. Some of the f r u i t s of C. erectus iu
t h e specimens g a t h e r e d by Hooker £. & Thomson at Seetakoond are h a r d l y smaller tliaa
those of G. macrocarpus as figured by Griffith, while they exactly agree in size and
shape with those of C. viacrocarpus as figured by Martius (1. c.). The fig. II of
p l a t e 186 A of Griffith's work represents another fruit of C. macmcarpus which in
n o way differs from those of the most typical specimens of C. erecius. From all
t h e s e considerations I cannot consider C. macrocarpus even as a v a r i e t y of C. crecius.
'•eclus and some
I have been able
G r i f f i th f o u n d e d his C. collinus on a f r u i t i n g spadix of C.
p o r t i o n s of a leaf of a Zulacca, very probably of Z. seaunda,
to ascertain from Griffith's a u t h e n t i c specimen in the H e r b a r i um at Kew, where the
p o r t i o n of leaf preserved seems to be the very one r e p r e s e n t e d in plate 186 of
G r i f f i t h ' s work. Griffith had acknowledged the affinities between C. collinus and C.
schisospaihiis (and hence with C. erectus), and to this he alludes when at the foot of
t h e description of C. cclUnus he s a y s : " This species appears to be closely allied to
t h e s u c c e e d i n g , ' ' that is to say, to C. schizospathus, not to 0. imcrocarpvs, as the
l a t t e r has been added by the publisher of Griffith's posthumous work, the name
'macrocarpus^ not being mentioned in the original paper on Palms published in the
C a l c u t t a J o u r n a l ; moreover, Griffith not h a v i n g seen the leaves of his C. macrocurpUs
could not have added to the description of this species " t h e terminal part of the
leaf of which (viz. C. schisospathvs) differs however from tliis species (viz. C.
collims), etc." The f r u i t of the authentic specimen of 0. collmis is of the same
s h a p e as that of the t r u e C. erectus, but a little smaller, being 3 cm. by 18 mm.
T h e seed of this fruit is not quite ripe and is only a little smaller than, but is
o t h e r w i s e p e r f e c t l y like that of C. erectus. The spadix looks more compact and
s h o r t e r than is usual in the specimens of C. erectus I have examined, and is not
a c u l e a t e ou its axial portions and the partial inflorescences are formed by single
»pikelets ; but probably what was considercjd by Griffith to be an entire spadix
i s only a branch or partial inflorescence j besiiles, the spadix in the figure of 0.
C. erectus.'] B E C C A C I . M O X O G E A P H OF TILE G E N U S CALAMUS. 1 25
eoUinus mentioned is t e r m i n a t e d by a short appendix clothed with d i m i n u t i v e spathes;
b u t th:> t e r m i n a t i o n of the spadix of C. erectus seems very variable.
A m c n g j t the numerous and complete specimens of C. enctvs which have been
t e n t to me by Mr. G. Mann from the Khasia Hills, there is an entire male
s p a d i x without any flagelliforra appendix at its summit and with flowers more
slender than u s u a l ; on the other hand another spadix is t e r m i n a t e d by a flagelliform
a p p e n d i x 35 cm. long. Some of the female spadiccs have m a n y p a r t i a l infloresccnces,
of which the largest, the lowest, bears oia each side 8 - 1 0 spikelets; other spadices
h a v e 4—') partial inflorescences only, and of these the lowest are composed of 3-4
s p i k e l e t s , and the uppermost of one. From the f o r e g o i n g considerations, I f e c i inclined
t o consider O. cnllinus also as not even a v a r i e t y of C. erectus.
A l a r g s specimen of C. erectus received f r om Dr. T r e u b and taken fronn a plant
c u l t i v a t e d at Euitenzorg has a leaf 4 m. in length, including the petiole, which
i s 80 cm. long, t h r e e - f o u r t h s - t e r e t e , 2 cm. in diam., narrowly channelled above»
a r m e d , in t h e lowet portion of t h e rachis, with n e a r l y complete, rather remote (5-10
cm. apart) horizontal or slightly oblique pectinate whorls of flat pale spines, 2 - 3 cm,
l o n g and confluent ut their bases. The largest leaflets are 75 cm. long. The
s p a d i x is nearly 3 m. long inclusive of a flattened peduncular portion 1 m. in
l e n g t h , aud a terminal r u d i m e n t a r y slightly aculeate flagelkm 50 cm. long.
A very remarkable character in C. erecius is furnished by the two large and
p r i c k l y auricles formed by the division of the ocrea at the mouth of the
leaf slieaths; but as that organ is deciduous, they are w a n t i n g iu oM leaves.
PLATE 1.—Calamus erectus Eoxb. The figure on the right side above is t a k en
f r om a specimen collected by G. Mann in the Khasia Hills, and represents the
upper portion of a leaf-sheath with the peculiar auricles of the ocrea and the basal
p o r t i o n of a male s p a d i x ; from the same place and collector are the two f r u i ts
a n d the seed near the left corner. The figure iu the middle represents a portion
of a male spadix from Lakkat i_C. B. Clarke). The figure on the left side is the
lower poition of a leaf f r o m the Khasia Hills (G. Mann). The figure on the left
u p p a r corner is a spikelet with ripe f r u i t s and seeds from Monsto (0. B. Clarke).
T h e f r u i t s i n the middle are also f r om the Khasia Hills (C. B. Clarke). The f r u i ts
i n the lower r i g h t h a n d corner accompanied by an entire seed, one l o n g i t u d i n a l l y cut
t h r o u g h the e m b r y o and a n o t h e r in t r a n s v e r s e section, are f r o m Monsto ( 0 . B. Clarke).
CALAMUS ERECTUS lloxb. var. SCHIZOSPATHUS Becc.
C. svhisospathus Gnff. i n Ualc. J o u r n . v, 32 and Palms Brit. Ind. 41, pi. clxxxvii;
M a r t . Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 332; Walp. Ann. iii, 482 and v, 829;
T . Anders, in J o u r n . Linn. Soc. xi (1869), 71; Gamble Man. Ind.
T i m b . 423; Becc. in Eec. Bot. Surv. I n d . ii, 197.
C. erecius Becc. ( p a r t l y ) in Hook, f. Fl. Brit. I n d . vi, 438.
DESCRirnoK.- L e a f l e t s more or less d i s t i n c t l y 'i—5-costulate; the secondary nerves
sometimes moro conspicuous than in the type, and one of these on each side of the
m i d - c o s t a furnished like it with a few bristles on the lower sm-face and sometimes
also on the upper one mainly towards the summit. Male spadix, spathes and spikei
l e t s n t y p i c a l C. erectus, b u t t h e s p a t h e l s mo r e d i s t i n c t l y s t r i a t e l y v e i n e d ,