2 1 0 ANNALS OF THK EOYAL BOTANIC GA2DE^Í, CALCUTTA. [Ö. AOAMPTOSTAOHYSscattered
claws. Leaflets numerous, subequidiatitnt, 3-5 cm. aiiart, sometiirme obscurely
paired on each side, elongate-lanceolato, those of ono sida conspicuously shoitur aod
also slightly broader than those of the other side, those of the right-hand sido
being 31-32 cm. long, 25-30 mm. broad, aod the othors 40-42 cm. long and
22-28 mm. broad; they are firmly papyraceous, more or less plicate, almost
glossy and concolorous on both surfaces, broadest about or a little below their
•aiiddle and fcheuce tapering towards the ba-ie and upwards acuminate to a subulate
and caudiculato tip that is bristly at the sides; on the upper Buiiace they are subtricoslulate
with the mid-costa prominent, sharp, and very sparingly spinulous only
near the apex; the side coatae very slender and smooth; sucondary nerves few,
inconspicuous; the under surface quite smooth; transvdrse veinlets innumerable,
very miuute, subpunctiform and immersed in the parenchyma; margins very minutely,
appressedly and remotely spiaulous. iV'de apadiz . . . . Female spadix very rigid,
forming a dense, strict, narrowly cupressiform pauicld : that seen by me, which I do not
know if it be entire, is 40 cm. long, has 6 erect very appri'ssed, gradually diminishing
partial inflorescencos; primary spathes deciduous; the main axis 7cry rigid, subterete
or slightly flattened, fugaciously furfuraceous; the internodes not swollen at the
junctures and not marked by depi-essions caused by the adjoining pai-ts; partial
inflorescences not calluus at their insertion, ovatu in outline, the lower cm.
long with 6-7 very regularly pinoately set spikes on each side that are inserted at
an angle of 45° and speedily decrease in length and number of flowers from the
base towards the summit; secondary spathes have a shortly infundibular or subannu-
]ar limb, which is obliquely truncate at the mouth, and produced at one side into &
triangular, dry, thinly membranous, acute or acuminate poirit and is often more or
less split; the spikelets are rigid, rathor thick, with biseriate, slightly sssurgent
flowers; the lower spikelets are 5-6 cm. long and have 6-7 approximate
flowers on each side; tho others are gradually shorter, while those of the upper
extremity ore only 1-2 cm. long and have 4-6 flowers in all; the axes of the
spikelets are strongly ami closely zig-zag sinuous; spathels fugaciously f urfuraceous,
shonly, broadly and unilaterally infundibuliforni, produced at one side into
a dry, membranous, triangular, acute, usually split point, that subtends its own
finwer; involucrophorum shortly and broadly infundibaliform, truncate, obsoletely
keeled on the poeticous side, exserted from its own spathel; involucre immersed in
tho involucrophorum. unilaterally cupular, lunateiy emarginate on the sido of the
neuter flower, of which the areola is conspicuous, broadly ovoid or sublunate and very
sharply bordered. Female flowers ovoid, 7 mm. long ; the calyx shortly caiiipanulate
or cyathiform, slightly 3-toothed, vary soon split into 3 parts ; the corolla not quite
twice as long as the calyx, deeply divided into 3 ovate, acute, very soon longitudinally
lacerated segments. The very young fruit is globose-ovoid and narrows
into a conical thick style, which is crowned by the acute recurved stigmas.
HABITAT.—Borneo: iJIount Mattang near Kuching, collected in Sept. 1905 hy H. N.
Ridley, (No. 12895 in Herb. Kew.).
OBSERVATIONS.—This species is characterized by the subequidistant, relatively large
and broad, elongate, lanceolate leaflets, but especially by the very rigid, strict,
cupressiform female spadix which has the secondary spathes and the spathels
M. ruptiUs] BECCAUI. THE SPKCIES OF DAEMONOEOPS, 211
regularly infundibuliform, similar to those of a Calamus, and from this apparently
related to D. longispaihm.
Of D, acamptostachys I have seen only an intermediate portion of a leaf and a
spadix with very young fruits.
PLATE 96.—Daemonorops acamptostachys Beac, Portion of a leaf near its upper
.end; spadix with growing ovaries: from Ridley's No. 12395 in the Herbarium at
Kew.
84. DAEMONOUOPS RUPTILIS Becc. in Rec, Bot. Surv. Ind. ii, 230.
Calamus ruptilii H. Wendl. (name only in Herb. Kew.).
DESCRIPTION.—Scandent; apparently large. Leof-sheaths armed at the mouth with
numerous, very large (as much as 20-25 em. long and 3-5 mm. broad), erect, laminar
spines, and all over the body with numerous similar Ispines but shorter. Lenves very
large, terminating iu a rather robust cirrus; petiole armed at its base with large light-
-coloured, laminar, unequal (1-5 cm. long^ spines, which point in difierent directions;
rachis smooth on the upper surface; underneath it is at first smooth or armed sparingly
•with solitary claws, which become ternate higher up and rather closely and regularly
half-whorled towards the end, especially on the cirrus. Leaflets numerous, equidistant,
rather distant ( ; - 7 cm. apart), papyraceous, rather glossy, green and concolorous on
• both surfaces, ensiforiu or very narrowly lanceolate, broadest about their miJdle and
thence tapering towards an acute base, and very gradually acuminate to a finely
subulate sliglitly asymmetrical and bristly tip; on the upper surface the mid-costa is
•acute and bare and the secondary nerves are slender and also bare; on the lower surface
the mid-coBta alone has a few long bristles, or is entirely bald; transverse vein lets
very numerous but indistinct; t!ie margins smooth, except near the apex, where they
are furnished with a few spinnles, longer and more numerous OD the small sub-apical
indentation of the lower margin than elsewhere; the largest leaflets are apparently
those near tho base, and are 60 cm. long and 3 cm. broad; other leaflets, probably of
the intermediate portion, are 35-40 cm. long and 2-3 cm. broad; some of the upper
end measure only 23 cm. in length and 3 cm. in width. Fmah spadix large; one,
which apparently wants only its peduncular part, is 75 cm. long, and carries 4 partial
.inflorescences; all the axial parts are of a cinnamon-brown colour when dry, and are
more or less fugaciously covered with a thin rusty-brown, furfuraccous indumentum;
the main axis is thickish, 18 mm. iu diameter at its base, and terminates in a tail-like
unarmed appendix, which is about 20 cm. long and is sheathed by several incomplete
spathes; the internodes are straight, subterete or obsoletely angular, slightly swollen
at the nodes; primary spathes thickly coriaceous, the outermost not seen by me;
the others elongate; one of these, apparently the second, is 44 cm. long and 4 cm',
broad, very nnvrowly lanceolate, very acuminate, spread out flat, quite unarmed!
carinate especially near tho apex, coarsely striate, or ridged with about 10 strong
costac on the back; the inner surface is also striate but the ridges are finer and closerpartial
inflorescences robust, spreading; the lowest, which is also the largest, is 40 cm',
long and has 10 large spikelets; of these, one is apical and the others Ire alternately
distichous; the succeeding inflorescences are shorter and have fewer spikelets; the
ANN. EOY. BOT. QARD., CALCUTTA, VOL. X I I .