THE PALMS OF BRITISH I.\DIA AND CEYLON. 403 



Description. — Leaflets many, equidistant, 12-lG inches long, 

 ^-1 incli I>voacl, elongate, ensifonn, acuminate, strongly 3-costate, 

 margins smooth, unarmed above, beneath pale and with a very few 

 longf bristles on the lateral costa3, the very distant bristles on the 

 lateral nerves beneath sometimes absent, at others nearly ^ inch 

 long ; petiole stout, scurfy when young, back rounded with very 

 stout, short, recurved spines ; rhachis pale ; sheath armed with very 

 stout scattered long and short spines. Female spadix stout, erect ; 

 spathes sparingl}^ armed with stout claws, narrowly tubular, truncate. 

 Fruiting branches 6-10 inches long, very stout, spikes recurved, 

 calj'x pedicelled, cupular, with spreading lobes. Fruit globose, 

 •|-| inch in diameter, very shortly beaked, black shining; scales 

 subaciite, with fimbriate margins, not channelled. 



Habitat. — Nilghiri Hills, 5-0,000 feet high : Sisparah, Nadu- 

 vatam. 



38. CALAMUS GAMBLEI, Becc. in Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI, 493 ; 

 Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. II, 207 ; Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calc. XI, 96, 316. 



DESCRiPriox. — Probabl)^ scandent and of moderate size. Leaves 

 large. Leaflets 6-7 cm. apart, ensiform, 60-65 cm. long, 25-28 mm. 

 broad, with three on both surfaces more or less bristly-spinulous 

 cost«, margins remotely ciliate-spinulous. Female spadix with 

 somewhat arched, 25-30 cm. long, partial inflorescences. Spikelets 

 arched, sub-scorpioid. Female flowers pointing upwards, ovate, 

 5 mm. long. Fruit globose-obpj-riform or turbinate-globose, 

 tapering towards the base, 22-25 mm. long, 17-18 mm. broad. 

 Scales usually in 21 series, pale yellow, shining, stronglj- gibbous, 

 distinctly channelled. Seed globose, ovoid. 



Habitat. — Nilghiris in the Makurti forest at about 5,000 ft. 



CALAMUS GAMBLEI, Becc. var. spliaerocar'pus, Becc. 1. c. 

 Description. — Fruit spherical, not tapering to the base, 18 mm. 

 in diameter. Seed almost spherical. 

 Habitat. — Nilghiris. 



39. C. GRACILIS, Roxb. {non Blanco neque Thw.) F]. Ind. Ill, 781 

 {e.icl. Syn. Hort. Mai. XII. t. 64 ;) Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. Ill, 338; Kunth 

 Enum. Ill, 209 ; Griff, in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. V, 54 ; Palms Brit. Ind. 

 64, t. 196 : Walp. Ann. HI, 488, V, 831 : Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 

 XLIII, II, 212, t. 31 C ; For. Fl. II, 520 ; Hook. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI, 453 ; 

 Brandis Ind. Trees 653 ; Becc. in Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. II, 208 ; Ann. Roy. 

 Bot. Gard. Calc. XI, 96, 318. 



Name. — Mapuri Bet (Beng.) ; Oahing Bet (Assam). 



Description. — Slender, climbing to a great extent ; naked stem 

 not thicker than a quill ; all the j-ounger parts included towards 

 their extremities in the armed sheaths of the leaves and then being: 

 about as thick as a man's little finger. Leaves 2-3 feet long, 

 alternate, recurved; leaflets 5-7 inches long, collected in opposite 

 groups of 3-5 on each side of the slender rhachis, elliptic-lanceolate, 



