394 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



24. CALAMUS ROTANG, L. Sp. PI. ed. 2,463 {Planta Ceylonensis 

 tantum et excl. syn. Hort. Malab. et Herb. Amboin.) ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. Ill, 

 777 ; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. HI, 334, t. 116, t. 8, and t. ZXXII, f. XII ; 

 Bl. Ptumphia III, 33; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. Ill, 117 ; Gamble Man. Ind. Timb. 

 423 ; Hook, f . Fl. Brit. Ind. VI, 447 ; Becc. in Eec. Bot. Surv. Ind. II, 206, 

 Ann. Ptoy. Bot. Gard. Calc. XI, 90, 269.— C. Ro.rburyhii, Griflf. in Calc. 

 Journ. Nat. Hist. V, 43; Palms Brit. Ind. 55, t. CXCV A (Sub C. fascicu- 

 latus) and t. CXCII (CXII j^^er errorem) ; Thw. Enum. PL Zeyl. 330.— 

 C. 7nonoecus, Roxb. Hort. Beng. 73 ex Ind. Kew. Suppl. I. — C. monoicus, 

 Roxb. Fl. Ind. Ill, 783 ; Mart.' Hist. Nat. Palm. Ill, 334 {excl. descn2). 

 Wallichii no. 8604 ?) ; Griff, in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. V, 48; Palms Brit. 

 Ind. 58. — C. scipionum, Lam. {partim) Encycl. Bot. 304 {excl. syn. Lour, et 

 Rheede). — Arundo Rotancj Tieylanica sjnnosissiina , etc., J. Burm. Thes. Zeyl. 

 36; Linn. Fl. Zeyl. 209, 468; Herm. Mus. Zeyl. 59.— Arundo nucifera 

 Rotany dicta, etc. Pluk. Almag. 53 ( excl. syn. Clusii ). — Phoenicoscorpiurus 

 s. Hehotropium Palmites spinosum, Pluk. Phytogr. 5,106. f . {excl. Marcg.). 

 — Arundo Rotang dicta, Pison. Ind. Orient. Mant. 188. — Arundo indica 

 versicolor flexilis, 0. Baub. Pin. 18, IV: J. Bauh. Hist. PI. II, 489; Raj. 

 Hist. Plant, 11, 1277. 



Names. 



English : Cane, chair-bottom cane, common rattan cane, rotang. 



French : Canne de Bengale, jonc de I'lnde, ratin, rotang 

 ordinaire, rotin, rottain. 



German : Palmriet, Rattangpalme, Rotang, Rottang, Rotting, 

 Spanisches Rohr, Steinrottang, Stuhlrohr. 



Butch : Rotting, rottinggewas, rottingriet runt, rnutstek, spaansch 

 riet. 



Perambu, Priampu (Tarn.) : Wewel (Singh.) ; Betamu, Bet- 

 tapu, Niru Prabba, Pemu, Pepti (Tel.) ; Bet, Beta, Chachi Bet 

 (Beng. and Hind.) ; Pepa, Prabba (Central Prov.) ; Rotan 

 (Malay.) ; Bed (Pers.). 



Description. — Stem vevy slender, scandent ; sheaths flagelli- 

 ferons, sparingly armed with short flat spines. Leaves 1^-2 feet 

 long, petiole yery short, stout margined with small straight or 

 recurved spines with conical laterally compressed bases ; leaflets 

 very many, equidistant, lower 8-12 inches long and ^-^ inch 

 broad, iipper gradually smaller, linear-lanceolate acuminate, 3- 

 veined, veins naked above or bearing distant bristles sometimes ^ 

 inch long, midrib alone setose beneath, margins setulose. Male 

 spadix very long, decompound, flagelliferous, sparingly- spinous ; 

 spathes elongate, tubular, lower 6-10 by nearly f inch diameter, 

 sparingljr armed with scattered recurved spines, upper unarmed, 

 scurfy; spikes 1-1^ inch, recurved or revolute, bracteoles densely 

 crowded, cjanbiform. jMale flowers secund in 3-4 series, ^ inch 

 long ; calj'x cupular, base thickened, striate lobes broad, acute; 

 petals sessile, smooth, acute ; filaments very short, subulate. Female 

 flowers -j^^j inch long, scattered along the slender branches of the 

 spadix ; calyx conical, tubular, 3-toothed, base dilated, truncate ; 



