166 JSHALS OP THK lOTiL BOTASIO QAKDES, OJLCCm. verticHlarls
its juice is said to be similar to that of the " Mamina tree"
amhoinicum Miq.), The Rotang is useless.
D. Calcfpariia has lieen rediscovered in Amboiim by HotOm (Herb Mus
Paris) and more recently by De Vriese (Herb. Leyd.).
OBSEiviTioss.—Hombron collected this species during the Toyac^e of the
" Astrolabe" and " Zclie," between the years 1838-40. Hombron's speci,^en consists
of only an apical port.ou of a rery yoang leaf and of one fruit. The latter is
somewhat larger than that described above, but otherwise identical; it is a . much as
38 mm. rn diameter and its seed is 20 mm. thick with the c h a W fovea apical, the
surface unequal, and furrowed along the taphal side.
a Oalarpari,,, is easily distinguishable by its comparatively very largo fruit a n d
conspiouous, pit-hke, deep chalazal fovea, situated near the top of the seed and
opposite to the e m b ^ o which is basa,. OeneraUy in .he . e e d s ' o f "
ehalazal fovea is placed m the central part of the raphal side, or is ob«,lete.
I discovered, in the ancient collections of the Museum of Florence, a small branch
ol the original CaiappaHm of liumph with mature fruits, apparently
the same branch which is figured in the "Herbarium Amboinense," and which was
sent by Humph himself i„ the year 1688 to the Grand Duke of Tuscany (see
"MartelU : Le Colle.ioni di O. E. Rumph, p. 163). I have received from t he
Leyden Herbar.mn a portion of the type specimen of Oalamm ambommm Miq. which
has enabled me to positively identify it with Eumph's Palmi,umm Calapparim.
1 have derived my description from those of Rumph and Miquel, and as to the
leaflets and fruit from Miquel's type specimen of 0. aminmma in the Leyden
Heibarmm, that of Kumph not being now available. Cdamm {DaemcLp,)
aml„„nm var. Bpimsior Miq. perhaps represents a difierent species from
v . Calapparms, and probably some of the characteristics attributed to 0. amboinema
as given in Miquel's description do not belong to it, but to the variety
,p,msior. Miquel in his description speaks of 2 spadices, one large, the other small •
m the first the axial parts are glabrous, and in the second, which I have seen'
these parts are furfuraceous and finely scabrid, and the fruit is perfectly spherical
exactly as in Kmnph's type specimen of Palmijmtm Cdapparim.
64. DiBMOsoBOPS vEEriciu.ABis Matt. Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 206 (3nd edit) and
329, pi. 175, f. iii, pi. 1. i, and pi. f . vi, vii; MMiiqq,. Fl .
Hook. f. Fl. Br.
Ridley, Mat. Fl.
Ind. Bat. iii, 99; Walp. Ann. iii, « 8 and v,
Ind. vi, 470; Becc. in Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii,
Mai. Pen. ii, 186 (as to the female plant only).'
D. p,riacat6m (non Mart.) Ridl. 1. c. 183 (as to the male plant).
Cahma, verlicillari, Griff, in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist, v, (1843) 83 and
Palms Brit. Ind. 7.3, pi. CO. A. B. 0 . ; H. Wendl. in Kerch. P . lm 238
(C. mrlioaalm).
DesOEIPTION.-Scandent, of either moderate or rather large size up to 15 m
high. Slmrnd .¡em 4-6 cm. in diameter, leaf-,heath armed at short intervals often'
not very regularly, with several usually complete, more rarely incomplete dkexed
0. uerticitlarisj beccaei. t h e s f e c i e s o f daemohühops. jgy
spiniferous, horizontal or oblique, broad, membranous, light-coloured, deüexed collars,
formed by the united bases of large, 4-6 cm. long, flat, light-coloured, often sinuous,
black-tipped spines intermingled with minute, black, rigid, glossy spiculae, which
fill up the spaces between them; each of these collars has another below it, as
broad or st times narrower, pointing upwards but fringed only with minute
»picnlao; sometimes instead of a lower spiculiierous collar about as large as the
upper and spinous, one much narrower or even reduced to a simple ring of
spiculae united by their bases will be found; these double collars have, between the
upper and lower collar of each pair, an annular hollow ant-harbouring gallery, the
spaces left by the decussate spines being choked up with rubbish b r i g h t there by
ants that inhabit then,; the mouth» of the sheaths are obliquely truncate and
armed with several very long (up to 15-18 cm.) erect, straight, flat, subulate, lightcoloured
spines. Ocrea indistinct. Leave, large, r 5 - 2 m. long in the pinniferons
port, and terminating in a long, robust and at short intervals strongly-clawed
citrus; petiole elongale, 40-60 cm. long, robust, slightly flattened-biconvei, with very
obtuse edges, anned densely all round, at short intervals, with more or less complete
rings of very minute, confluent prickles, and on t h e back with comb-like
series of rather large, unequal spines; rachis, in its lower portion, armed also on
both Burfaces with more or less interrupted and approximate scries of small, pecti-
Date, often tuberonliform prickles; on the lower surface the pectinate spines a re
gradually transformed into rather strong, black-tipped, digitate and still higher up
into closely half-whorled claws; on the upper surface the rachis is obtusely convex
in its lowest portion, and has n furrow on each side for the insertion of the
leaflets and from the middle upwards is bifaoed with a more or less prickly
throughout salient angle; leaflets numerous, equidistant, 3-4, cm. apart, rather firmly
papyraceous, almost shining, green and subconcolorous on both surfaces, narrowly
lanceolate, broadest a little below the middle, thence tapering towards the base
gradually acuminate towards a subulate and, at the sides, bristly tip; the mid
costa is rather strong, sharp and sparsely bristly, while the secondary' nerves are
slender and bald underneath; the mid-costa is rather closely bristly,
or two secondary nerves on each side of it are sprinkled with
one
spreading bristles, or quite glabrous; transverse veiulets not
small,
short and interrupted; margins minutely, appresaedly and
spinulons; the largest leaflets usually 40-45 cm. long, and 20-2L .......
very conspicuous,
not very closely
mm. broad, but
occasionally only 25 cm. by 15 mm. Male tpadix before flowerilTg"'very" slender
cylindraceous, acuminate, the spathcs not very much protruding one above the
other; during the anthesis the spadix forms a large, elongatc-cupressiform, 0-8-1-2 m.
long, Bupiadcconipound panicle, more or less rusty-furturaceous in every part and
supported on a very short, flattened, unarmed or at the sides slightly spinulons
peduncular part; the primary spathes spread out, are flat during the anthesis',
are easily detached, thickly papyraceous, or thinly coriaceous; the outermost is
not much larger than the others, is narrowly lanceolate, and long acuminate
40-46 cm. long and about 3 cm. broad, internally glabrous, striate, and of a cinnamon
brown colour, obsoletely keeled ezternally, where it is more or less persistently
furfuraceous and densely covered with very approximate, transverse, interrupted
series of innumerable, criniform, shining, black, needle-like, brittle, confluent, always