rilE PALMS OF lllil ri!SH 1M)1A AAJJ CKYl.OX. 4ir, 



n.EMOyOROPS KUHZIANUS, Hook. f. FI. Brit. Ind. ; Brandis lud. 

 Treos 650. — D. giandi*, Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. XLIII, II, 208 (not 

 ^\i\ri).— Calamm ;/randi^, Kurz For. Fl. II, ^^S (not of Hriftith). 



A lofty climber, the slioatliod stonis as tliick as the arm, the 

 canes np to 1 inch in diameter. Leaves 4-6 feet long, sliortly 

 petiolecl ; leaflets 1-2 feet long, 1-1 :}■ inch broad, very many, 

 equidistant, elongate, ensiform, aciiminate, margins minutely 

 aculeolate, tips ciliate, costa^ '^-~^, naked or with a few long bristles 

 above; rhachis enormonsly stont, H inch in diameter, semi- terete, 

 flat above witii short scattered spines on the margins, dorsally 

 convex and unarmed, ending in a clawed flagellum ; petiole very 

 stout, armed below with long, flat and short recurved spines ; sheath 

 with whorled spines. Outer spathe cymbiform, scnrfy, with seriate 

 spines ; inner linear, nnanvied. Fruiting spadix erect, branches 

 very stout. Fruit globose, -| inch in diameter, very shortly beaked, 

 pale brownish yellow ; scales deeply channelled, mai'gins brownish 

 with a very naiTOw scarious edge ; fruiting calyx with a very short 

 base and broad, striate lobes ; petals twice as long, striate ; seed 

 subcompressed ; albumen punctate, or the siirface ruminate by very 

 slender channels. 



Habitat. — South Andaman Islands. 



Uses. — D. Jairzianus is the only species hitherto reported as 

 affbrdinof the so-called " East Indian Drao-on's blood." This is for 

 the most part prepared from the fruits of several species of Calamus, 

 growing in Eastern Sumatra, South Borneo, and Penang. The 

 gum exudes naturally from between the scales of the fruit, but 

 inferior qualities are obtained by boiling the fruits or by tapping 

 the stems. The false Dragon's blood of the Indian market is 

 imported into Bombay from Sumatra, Penang, etc., in large cakes 

 or compressed in Bamboo tubes. The true Dragon's blood if 

 procured from Sokotra. aiul is obtained by tapping the stems of 

 several species of Dractona. 



