110 ANNALS OF THR EOYAL BOTANIC GARDEN. UALCUTTA. MICRACANTHUS.
HABITAT.—Borneo. Collected by myself in J u l y 1867 on Büket Skadjang, at the
foot of Günoug Mattanfi near Kuching, in Sal^i^yak. (P. B. No. SGli.) It yields the
best quality of Dragon's blood known in Sarawak.
OBSERVATIONS,—It is related to D. Draco and D. micracanthus In respect of t h e leafeheaths,
which are armed with bristlo-like seriate spiculae, not with laminar spines, but
d i f f e r s f r om both, as f r om the othor allied species, by tlie very narrowly Ihioar leaflets.
F r o m what I can judge by the specimen of a leaf (Herb. Hort. Bog. No. 163-37)
D. DraconceUiis grows also in Dutch Borneo probably in t h e l i e s i d e n c y of Sambas, but
t h e exact locality is not uoted. in this leaf the leaflets are exactly as in the
specimons from Sarawak, but they are minutely ciliate only on the mid-costa and
u n d e r u o a t h , while the side nerves are usually imked, and only exceptionally have a
v e r y few bristles upon them.
PLATE 42. —Daemonorops Draconcellus Beco. Portion of the sheathed stem with
a male spadix on the r i g h t hand side of the plate) ; f e m a l e spadis in flower (in the
c e n t r e ) . F r u i t i n g spadix of the typicai f o r m ; 3 detached f r u i t s of a variety vvhicli
h a s the fruit ovoid ellipsoidal ; defached male and female flowers I in the upper part
of plate\
40, DAEMONOKOPS MICRACANTHUS Becc. in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi, 467, and in
Ree. Bot. Surv. i n d . ii, 224 [7m'craeantJius); Ridl. Mat. Fl. Mal. P e n , ii, 180.
Calamus micracanikus Grifi. in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist, v, 62, aad Palms
B r i t . l u d . 72; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 3-i9; Walp. Ann. iii, 489,
a n d V, 831 {micracanthus)-, Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 128.
DTSCRIPTION.—Scandent, slender. Sheathed stem 10-13 cm. in diam. Leafs.
cyiindrical, gibbous above, covered with very numerous, minute, lightcoloured,
spinuliferous - tubercules, which are at times scattered but more f r e q u e n t ly
c o n f l u e n t , and aligued to form very aiaall, uaeqaal, sinuous, interrupted and
more or less approsimiite series. Ocrea very short or almost obsolete. Leaves on
t h e lower part of the stem of very young plants not c i r r i f e r o u s ; the upper leaves
h a v e a slender (in one leaf 40 cm. long) clawed cirrus; petiole slender, elongate
3 0 - 3 0 cm. long, channelled only at its base, otlierivise flattish above or else
iub-bicouvex, margins acute and more or less prickly, beneath feebly armed
along the centre witli a few solitary, small claws; rachis bifaced, with a
v e r y acute salient but smooth angle on the upper surface, sparingly and feebly
c l a w e d underneath or at times, in noii-cirriferous leaves, smooth; leaflets rather
numerous (li--20 on each side), rather remotely equidistant, inserted at a rather
acute angle, narrowly laaceolate or linear-lanceolate, larger about their middle and
g r a d u a l l y narrowing theiica towards a rather acute base, and upwards to a very
g r a d u a l l y long-acuminate, and bristly-penicillate tip; they have 3 bristly-spinulous
costae on both s u r f a c e s ; underneath the spinules of the mid-costa are very small
a n d very approximate; transverse veinlets sinuous and slender; the margins
a p p r e s s e d l y spiiiulnus-serrulate; the i n t e r m e d i a t e leaflets are about 30 cm. long and
.15 nmi. broad; the upper leaflets are shorter and less acuminnte. Other parts
u n k n o w n .
BECCAEI. XUE SPECIES OF DAEMONOEOPS. i n
D. propinquus'2
HABITAT.—The Malayan Peninsula at Malacca (Grifdh). Malayan name " R o t a ng
D j e r n a n g " . " Rediscovered in 1900 by H. N. Ridley at P^ncliur, Johore River
(No. 10952 ill Herb. Calcutt.). Malayan name " R o t a n g T a h i Ayam " or " R. D j e r n a ng
Also at Kwala Pilak in Negri Sembilan on Bukit Senaling (5. Moorhousc). Ridley
gives also the locality ot Bukit Timah in Singapore.
OBSERVATIONS.—I have seen some portions of Griflith's type specimens in the
H e r b a r i a of Kcw, Calcutta and Brussels (Herb. Mart.). The Kew specimen is of
a non.cirrif«rous leiif; that of Brussels has a leaf with a cirrus 40 cm. long;
t h a t of Calcutta forms the passage between the two h a v i n g only a r u d i m e n t a r y cirrus.
R i d l e y ' s soecimens seen b y me agi-ae p e r f e c t l y well with those of Griffith and are also
s t e r i l e ; their leaf-sheaths still bear a few small spiculae, which rest on tho permanent
t u b e r c u l i f o r r a base; these sheaths apparently have tiieir surfaces uiarbled or spotted,
a fact which accounts for the .Malay name " K. T a h i A y a m " , viz., the " F o w l - d u ng
R o t a n g " , the v a r i e g a t i o n having that appearance. The vernacular name of " R o t a ng
D j e r n a n g " would indicate that it is one from which the Dragon's blood r ^ D j e r n a n g)
is exti'acted. And indeed D. micramnthw much resembles D. Draaoncdlus. one of
t h e species that yields the bist quality of that drug in Sarawak, and from which it
d i f f e r s only in its broader linear-lanceohite leaflets with 3 bristly nerves on both
surfaces. It seems also a very near ally of the true D. Draeo {L'alviijuncus Draco
Rumph.) f r om which apparently it differs in the more slender stems and in the
sheaths not c a r r y i n g true spines, but very minute, seriate, deciduous spiculae, resting oa
a bulbous base.
i t i d l e y (1 c.) describes the spadix of D. micraeanVm: "Short, under 6 inches,
" peduncle 3 inches or more long, the lower half armed with short conic black-
" t i p p e d spines with a thickcned base; branches of spadiy short, thick, angular.
" S p a t h e s linear-oblong, outer one armed with trnnsverse crests of flat spines A inch
" l o n g , gray. Bracts ( s p a t h e l s ? Becc.) v e r y small, ovato, obtuse. Calyx: saucer shaped,
" n e a r l y flat i,in the f r u i t i n g p e r i a n t h ? Becc.) with very short rounded lobes. Petals
" l a n c e o l a t e , ribbed, about 4 times as long. Fruit obhrng-globose, f inch through,
" s h o r t l y b e a k e d ; (scales) rhomboid, rather broader than long, brownish yellow,
" grooved down the centre, v e r y strongly resinous. Seed suborbicular flattened; albumen
" much pitted."
PLATE 43, Daemonorops micracanthus Beca. Figs. 1-3, f r o ^ the type specimen
i n the H e r b a r i um at K e w ; f, 4 f r om a similar Bpecimen in Martius's Herbarium at
Brussels.
41. DAEMONOROPS PKOPINQUUS Becc. in Hook f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi, 467, and in
Rec. Bot, Surv. Ind. ii, 2 2 4 ; Ridley, Mat. F l . Mai. Pen. ii, 181.
Calamus Draco (not of Willd.) Grifi. in Calc. J o u r n , Nat. Hist, v, 65,
a n d Palms Brit. Ind. 75 (exl. descript. of Roxb. ?) pi. CCI, A. B. ; Mart.
H i s t . Nat. Palm, iii, 205, 2nd edit, (partly), pi. 175, f. x 3, 4, 5, 7
(excl. f. 1 and perhaps f. 6, 8, which apparently belong to D.
Draco from
DESCRIPTION.—Scandent, and of moderate size. Sheathed stem about 3 cm. in diam.
Leaf-slteaihs gibbous above, densely armed with very unequal spines, of whiuh somo