9 0 ANNALS OF THE EOTAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. PETIOLAHS.
PLATE 30.—Daetoonorops Lewisianus Mart, Portions of a leaf and a male spadix
from Gaudicbaud'a specimen (Paris Herbarium). The two fruits are from Lewis
and Lave been added by Martius himself in the Paris Herbarium.
27. DAEMONOROPS PETIOLARIS Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 326, pi, Z. X V I I I,
f . I l l (diagr.); Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 8T; Walp. Ann. iii, 475 and
V, 827; Hook f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi, 466; Becc. in Rec. Bot. Siirv.
Ind. ii-221.
D. petiolaris var. mdipca Beco. I.e.
D. calioaTpus (non Mart.) Ridley, Mat. Fl. Mai. Penin. ii, 17 pro parte).
Calamus peiiolaris vai-s. a. and /8 QrifE. in Gale. Journ. Nat. Hist, v, 93,
an-l PalmB. Brit. India, 101, pi. CCXVI, f. V I I ; H. Wendl. in
Kerch. Palm.. 2.37; Miq. De Palm. Arc. Ind,, 28?
DESCRIPTION.—Small, erect. Sheathed stem 15—20 mm, in diameter. Leaf-sheaths (of
the upper part of the plant) not or very slightly gibbous above, obaoletely longitudinally
costulatc, usually armed with solitary, scattered, flat, laminar, 10-15 mm. long,
subulate, brown-spadiceous or blackish, ascendent or deflesed spines. Ocrea very short,
exactly horizontally truncate. Radical leaves not cirriferous, considerably larger than
the upper ones, about 2 m. long in the pinniferous part and with an unusually long
petiole which is terete and armed towards its base with seriate spines and smooth
higher up or with straight dentiform prickles on the margins, and with a line of claws
along the centre of the dorsum in the upper part. Leap.ts very elongate, linear,
the largest 4 0 - 5 0 cm. long, 15-20 mm. broad, subconcolorous on both surfaces, slightly
narrowing to the base, where very suddenly backwatdly plicate, acuminate from near
the apex into a subulate tip, tricostulate above where the mid-costa is robust
and acute, the side costae more slender and more closely spinulous especially
towards the apes ; on the lower sui'face the mid-costa alone very closely and finely
bristly from the base to the apes, the side nerves slender and glabrous; the margins
closely spreadingly, finely ciliate. TJp-per featici of the flowering part of the plant,
much reduced in size and quite different from tlie radical ones, cirriferous, 20-40
cm. long, including the slender cirrus; petiole very short, 1-4 cm. long, flattened
plano-convex, its margins acute, smooth or prickly, the dorsum armed along the
centre with approximate small slender claws, which are solitary at first and become
2-3-nate along the rachis and half-whorled on the cirrus; leaflets rather numerous,
2 0 - 2 5 on each side, approximate, equidistant, very small, linear or linear-lanceolate,
5 - l o cm. long, 4-5 mm. broad; on the upper surface the mid-costa alone
usually carrying a few bristles; underneath the mid-costa very closely and minutely
bristly; margins closely spreadingly ciliate. Spadiees crowded at the apex of
the plant, before flowering fusiform-elliptical, rather ventricose or fusiform-ovoid,
rather shortly beaked, 12-35 cm. long, inserted near the mouth of their sheaths,
erect, supported by a short prickly or almost smooth pedicel; outermost spathe obsoletely
2-keeled, more or less covered with a very dark or tobacco-coloured scurfy
Q. petiolaris.'] BECCABI, THE SPECIES OF DAEMONOROPS. 91
pubescence, rather suddenly narrowing into a beak which is only a^ third or
fourth part of its entire length, rather densely armed with long, rigid, very
narrowly laminar or acicular, brown-spadiceous or blackish, usually straight, solitary or
slightly confluent, spreading or deflexed spines,; the second and third spathes
spinous only near the apex, slightly shorter than the first; the others unarmed.
Male spadix (when not enveloped by the spathes) densely panioled-thyrsoid; partial
inflorescences densely thyrsoid-cupressiform, decompound, or with many secondary
branchlets; the latter 3-4 cm. long, each bearing 4 - 5 spikelets on each side; spikelets
short, 10-18 mm. long with 2-4 flowers on each side; their axis sinuous,
ferrugineous-pubescent; spathcls bracteiform, small, acute; involucre distinctly callous
at its axilla, deeply cupular, the third part the length of the calys, truncate and
usually distinctly 2-douticulate. Male flowers oblong, obtuse, 5-5 mm. long, 1-5
mm. broad, rusty-furfuvaceous; the calyx tubular-campanulate, rather strongly striately
veined externally, distinctly 3-toothed, its margin ciliate-furfuraceous, especially
on tlie apex of the teeth; the coroUa twice as long as the calyx, divided down
for two-thirds of its length into three narrow, rather acute, externally striolate
segments^; stamens with filaments united halfway up the corolla; rudimentaiy ovary
very small. Female spadix
HABITAT.—The Malayan Peninsula at Malacca, {Griffith). In the district of Perak
at Pangkorc, Ridley No. 7397 in Herb. Oalcutt. and Beccari. Malayan name "Rotang
Kusom" (Ridley).
OBSERVATIONS.—Griflith has distinguished two forms of C. pdiolaris, but probably
considering the great variability in the individuals of Daemonorops of the group of
Cymhospaihae, and the extraordinary differences in the leaves of this species, depejiding
on their different situations, at the base of the stem, along it or at its
apex probably there are not sufficient reasons for keeping the two forms distinct.
1 have seen portions of Griffith's authentic specimens of both, but in those of
var. a at Kew the petiole is wanting. The specimens of var. ^ have a portion
of the petiole, which is terete and 6-8 mm. in diam.; it is described by Griffith
as wholly unarmed in its upper portion, while in var. a it is said to be prickly at
the margins and clawed beneath. I suppose, however, that really the radical leaves
have a very long terete petiole, in its upper part quite smooth, and that the
leaves of the lower part of the stem, forming the passage to those of the apes^
though also provided with a long petiole, have this to ore armed than the radical
ones In the spadix, spathes and flowers of the two varieties I iiave observed only
veryl trifling differences.
D petiolaris is certainly related to B. calicarpus, but it seems to me sufficiently
distinguished by its leaf-sheaths armed with scattered, non-confluont, and not seriate
spines, and by the outer spathes being much less covered with spines, and these
of the usual kind, not bristly.
PLATE 31.—Daemonorops petiolaris Hi art. From Ridley's No. 7897 in the
Calcutta Herbarium.
ANN. ROY. BOT. SARD. CALCUITA YOL. X I I.