Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula. 



189 



and abundant all over the peninsula, yet male flowers are unknown and 

 females and fruit hardly ever seen. It is one of the most valued of 

 rattans, which is perhaps one of the reasons of the scarcity of its flowers 

 and fruit. 



A number of species have been very inadequately described, often 

 from mere scraps, as collectors find these plants too bulky for ordinary 

 collecting and often bring back from the forests a fragment of a leaf 

 and portion of inflorescence only. Good characters are to be obtained 

 usually from the leaf sheaths but these are rarely collected. I have 

 utilized the presence or absence of the inflorescences flagellum as a 

 grouping character, and it is probably one of the best, but unfortunately 

 specimens do not always show whether the leaves are flagelliferous, or 

 whether there are independent flagella, which as they usually bear dis- 

 tinct remains of spathes, are undoubtedly abortive inflorescence. In 

 the species with flagelliferous leaves, i.e. the rachis prolonged and not 

 provided with leaflets, it is only the leaves of the climbing stem, and 

 often only the upper ones which are flagelliferous, and collectors are 

 very apt to bring in only portions of leaves or leaves without flagella, 

 as being more easily handled, so that in some cases it is yet doubtful 

 as to whether the species has leaf-flagella or not. 



§ 1. MlSCHANTHECTAE. With inflorescence 

 flagella, leaves not flagelliferous. Leaflets few 

 lanceolate, broad and distant, stems slender. 



No distinct petiole, lowest pair of leaflets 



depressed round the stem 

 Lowest pair of leaflets not deflexed, leaflets 



small, spadix short, little branched 

 Leaflets 4, large, spadix long and slender, 



leaflets lanceolate base acuminate 

 Leaflets elliptic, shortly narrowed at base 



spadix elongate ... 

 Spadix short compact ... 



Leaflets large, rhomboid distant white 



beneath... 

 Leaflets lanceolate, broad, very numerous 



stem very stout, spadix very long slender 

 Spadix long, stout 



Leaflets linear numerous. 



Spadix long, pendent ; spathes with a short limb ; 



spadix simple with stout recurved spikes, 



with close-set distichous flowers, spathels 



unarmed, spikes rather slender, short ... 9. C. dcnsillorus. 

 Spathels thorny, spikes broad and large ... 10. C. Bidlcyanus. 

 Spathels rugose scabrid, spikes larger ••• 11. C. radiilosus. 



1. 0. pcncillatus. 



2. C, pcnangmsis. 



3. C. jilipendulus. 



4. C. insights. 



5. .C. subspathulatm 



6. C, rhomboidcus. 



7. C. scipionum. 



8. C. omatus. 



