222 ANNALS OF THE BOYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. [¿). sparSlflOKUSprickly
on the obtuse edges, otherwise smooth above, and lias only a few
distant claws underneath along the centre; the rachia has a line of claws along the
centre, solitary at first, teinate towards the end; above, the rachis is bifaced and
has the salient angle acute, and is Tory narrowly grooved along the edge, the groove
resulting from the mid-costa of the leaflets of one side, which are decurrent along,
and near the edge of the salient angle, and do not unite with the niid-cosiae of the
leaflets of the other s i d e l e a f l e t s very numerous, 48 on each side of the rachis
(Hewitt), very regularly and very closely set at a rather wide angle, otherwise
exactly as in the forma typica. Male spadix elongate; before flowering it is about.
60 cm. long, straight, rigid, flattened in its lower part, tereto above beyond the
first spathe, and acuminate at its upper end; primary spath<.>s hard and thick,
almost -woody, conspicuously cosfculate, and deeply striate-sulcate longitudinally; thelowest
spathe is somewhat flattened and has rather acute edges, those following before
the authesis are terete, and gradually protrude one above the other; all are unarmed,
but furnished, at their jpper end, with many, long, feeble, pale, bristles; thepanicle
is narrowly cupressiform, strict, acuminate, borne on an unarmed flattened
pedicellar part 6-7 cm. long, and comprised of 6-7 gradually diminishing, twice
branched, appressed, dense^ fastigiate or thyrsoid, partial inflorescences, of which thelowest
is the largest and 13-15 cm. long; the lower brancholets are 6-7 cm. long
and carry alternately and distiehally 6-7 spikelets on each side; the axis of the
branchlets is rigid, thickish at the base, about 2 mm. broad, is more or less^
sinuous, and speedily diminishes towards a finely subulate apex; the spikelets are
inserted at a rather acute angle, have a very slender, filiform, rieid, slightly
sinuous, angular axis; the largest spikelets ate those at the base of the branchlots,.
and these are about 3 cm, long and bear 6-7 flowers on each side, which
flowers rest on a small tubercle and are disiichally set; the following spikelets
arc gradually but speedily shorter; the uppermost spikelets are only 10-15 mm.
long and have very few flowers; spathels and involucre obsolete. Male
flowers oblong, blunt, 4 mm. long, 1-5 mm. broad, subtrigonous, or more or less
flattened • the caly,. is cyathiform from a flat base, truncate and very obsoletely
3-denticulate at the mouth, finely striately-veined; the corolla is at least 3-4 times
as loner as the calyx. Female spadu about 60 cm. long (in one specimen), nodding
when in fruit rather densely pinlcled, composed of 5-6 partial inflorescences, of
which the lowest is 22 cm. long, is slightly branched in its basal part, and
carries simple spikelets in the remaining portion ; the other partial ii
only simple spikelets, usually 8-10 on each side of ' the axis; the
are 8-10 cm. long, have a rigid, subtetragonous, slightly zig-zag sinuous axis, carry
12-14 flowers on each side, and the flowers are almost regularly distichous; mvolncrophorum
(pedicelliforml and involucre exactly as in the type. Fruiting perianth
veiT shortly pedicellifoi-m, from the hardened base of the calyx. Fruit spherical,
m i 4 t e l y and acutely beaked, 12 mm. in diam., scales arranged m 15 longitudinal
series neatly and narrowly grooved along the centre, umber-brown with a ratherbroad'
black margin all round, and a blunt apex. Seed somewhat flattened,
orbicular almost Icnticular and almost equally convex on both «des, minutflly
tubercled', 1 cm. broad, 8 mm. thick; chalazal fovea obsolete; albumen bony,
irregularly ruminate; embryo basal.
•D. sparsiflorus'] beccael t h e s p e c i e s of d a e m o n o e o p s , 223
Habitat,—Specimens -with mature fruit and with male flowers, of this very
peculiar variety of D. svarsiflurus were collected on the Baram River in N.-W.
Borneo (Sarawak) by Charles Boie (No. 703 Herb. Brit, Mus.) and by J. H. Hewitt
(Herb. Kew.). Another specimen wiih male spadices only quite similar to the preceding,
collected by Hewitt, bears only the locality Sarawak and the native name
" R o t a n Sepal."
Observations.—When I fi rst wrote the description of D. sparsiflorus 1 considered
as one of its most prominent characteristics tne female flowers not being distiehally
set on the axis of the spikelets, but spirally arranged all round it; but in this
variety, which in every other respect agrees with the forma typiea, the spikelets
Lave plainly distichous flowers.
P l a t e 101. —Daemonorops sparsiflorus vak. sarawakensis Becc. Portion of the
sheathed stem with an entire male spadix in flower, and another not yet open;
upper portion of a leaf, from Hewitt's specimen ia Herb. Kew, labelled " Rotan
Sepal."
P;.ate 102.—Daemonorops sparsiflorus var, sarawakensis Becc. (except the two
spikelets with female flowers on the left side of the plate^. Upper end of a l e a fj
an entire fruiting spadix: from the Baram specimon collected by Hewitt (Herb.
Kew.). The two spikelets belong to the type specimens of D. sparsiflorux in Herb.
Kew.
17. Daemonokops SPAESIFLOKUS var. CEAssiFOLros Becc. n. var.
Description—It differs from the forma fypioa, as well as from the variety
sarawakensis in its larger leaves, with larger leaflets and of a thicker structure;
m the dry condition, in herbarium specimens, the leaflets are brittle, and look
as if they had been succulent when fresh. In the forma typica and in the variety
saruioahensis they are also thickish, but not to such an extent as in the present
variety. The largest leaflets are 35 cm, long and 18-20 mm. broad. The male
•spadices I have seen are not fully evolute, they are however exactly like those
of var. sarawakensis in respect of the structure of the spathes, but of these the outermost,
which is 20 cm. long and 22 mm. broad, almost completely enwraps all the others ; it is
•flattish or somewhat concave on the axial side, convex on the back, and bears, besides
the long bristles at the apex, a few feeble, flaccid spines on its acute edges.
I t is not known if in fully evolute spadices the inner spathes protrude beyoud the
outermost, as in var. sarawakensis or if these remain always the shortest. If
this be really the case, it would be, perhaps, convenient to raise this variety to the
rank of a species. The male spikelets and the male flowers are identical with those
of var. sarawakensis.
Habitat—Dutch N.-W. Borneo at Liang-gagan ia the
{Eallier No. 2989 in Herb. Hort. Bot. Bogor.).
of Sambas
P l a t e 103.—Daemonorops
plant with a male, not yet open.
•it. crassifolius Bsra. The summit of a
ix; a male spadix very near flowering; portion