10. Calamus.] 137. PALMACEM. 



lules. Male calj'x cupular 3-toothed, petals 3 acute, coriaceous, 

 valvate, stamens 6, filaments short, anthers dorsifixed. Fem. calj^x 

 as in the male, slightly accrescent, corolla tubular below, 3-fid, valvate ; 

 staminodes forming a cup. Ovary incompletely 3-celled, clothed 

 with retrorse scales, style with 3 stigmas. Ovules basilar, erect. 

 Fruit with thin pericarp clothed with retrorse closely imbricating 

 polished scales, style terminal. Seed smooth or pitted, albumen 

 equable or ruminate. Embryo ventral or basal. 



A. Rhacliis flao-elliferous, leaf-sheaths not flag-ell if erous : — 



Lflts. ineqnidisfcant, broad. Fruitiug- per. pedicelliform . 1 latifoliu». 



B. Rhachis not flao-elliferous, leaf -sheaths some flagelliferous :— 



1. Spathe elongate persistently tubular: — 



Ltits. fascicled. Fruiting per. not pedicelliform . . 2. vimivalis. 



Lflts. equidistant, slender. Fruiting per. pedicelliform . 3. tenuis. 



2. Primary spathes at first tubular, soon split open : — 



Leaflets narrow equidistant. Frt. per- not pedicelliform . i. ffxrnha. 



1. C. latifolius, Roxb. Var. marmoratus, Beccari ; Gauri-bet, Or. 



A stout widely scandent cane armed Avith numerous often sub- 

 verticillate close reflexed, or j'oung patent, horizontally flattened,, 

 lanceolate prickles over \" long and numerous very short triangular 

 ones. Leaves very long with the rhachis produced into a long 

 flagellum armed with recurved prickles, leaflets very inequidistant, 

 mostly geminate with both members of the pair on the same side of 

 the rhachis, oblong-lanceolate about 10" by 1-5", or sometimes 20" 

 by 4", ending in a bristly acumen and margins with distant setiform 

 erect prickles. Sheath with a marbled appearance. Inflorescence 

 with spreading distichous somewhat zigzag branches with the inter- 

 nodes sheathed with tubular-obconic spathes with oblique cuspidate 

 densely ciliate mouth, joints of male with recurved or nearly straight 

 spikes 1-0--7" long with closely imbricate orbicular distichous bracts 

 bearing a flower and distinctly 2-lobed cupular bracteole in their 

 axils. Principal spathes shaped like those on the branches, some- 

 times split at apex, armed with broad short and rather longer spines. 

 Fruiting calyx pedicelliform. Fruit subglobose, nearly 1", pale. 



Along streams in the mountains of the mals of Orissa ! Fl. Dec-Jan. 



Young parts rusty tomentose. Leaflets not setose on the nerves, sometimes 

 ttabellately clustered, petiole pulvinate below on the sheath with sharp narrow 

 spines. M. fl. '2" long, calyx •!" long. 



The cane is said not to be as good as the Kanta-let but superior to the Tanl-het, 



2. C. viminalis, V^IM. Var. fasciculatus, Becc. ; Pani-bet, Or. ; Beiit, 



K., S. 

 Often sub-erect and tufted, ultimately climbing in favourable 

 situations, rather stout, armed with slender straight, not flattened,, 

 very sharp reflexed spines, -5-1 -5" long on the rhachis and petiole 

 and also flat ones on the stem (leaf-sheaths). Leaf-rhachis not pro- 

 duced into a flagellum but a flagellum arises laterally on the leaf- 

 sheaths. Leaflets many inequidistant, often 2-4 close one above the 

 other, then a wide interval, linear-lanceolate, G-12" by -5-1" ending 

 in a bristle, margins and costae beneath with setiform prickles. Inflor- 

 escence very long with the main rhachis ending in a flagellum, inter- 



886 



