XIII, c. 5 Merrill: Noteworthy Philippine Plants 317 



4 cm long, the subtending bracts lanceolate, acuminate, less than 

 1 cm long; pedicels slender, about 1 cm long, the bracteoles 

 lanceolate, acuminate, 2 to 3 mm long. Calyx jointed with the 

 pedicels, about 3 mm long, the teeth 5 or 6, short, acute. Petals 



5 or 6, narrowly ovate, obtuse or acute, 1-nerved, attached by 

 a broad base, the margins overlapping, about 3 mm long, the 

 base about 1.5 mm wide. Stamens 5 or 6; filaments 4 mm long; 

 anthers inflexed in bud, about 1 mm long. Ovary 5- or 6-celled ; 

 styles 5 or 6, erect, free or very slightly connate at the base, 

 0.5 to 0.7 mm long. Fruit ellipsoid or ovoid, 5- or 6-ridged, 

 5- or 6-celled, about 5 mm long, crowned by the radiately 

 spreading styles. 



Mindanao, Lake Lanao, Camp Keithley, Mrs. Clemens 752 (type), Sep- 

 tember-October, 1906, and again, without number, a year later: Davao 

 District, Todaya, Mount Apo, Elmer 11605, September, 1909, known to the 

 Bagobos as simbar. Catanduanes, Bur. Sci. 30211 Ramos, November, 1917. 

 Luzon, Laguna Province, San Antonio, Bur. Sci. 23833 Ramos, October, 

 1915. 



Preliminary work was done on this peculiar species in 1906, and again 

 in 1908, but on account of the rather fragmentary material then available 

 it was impossible to determine the exact nature of the entire leaves and the 

 inflorescences. Mr. Elmer later collected the same form on Mount Apo, 

 and kindly submitted his copious material and notes for my examination, 

 which have enabled me to complete my description regarding some details 

 of the plant. Mr. Elmer's field note is as follows : 



"Sprawling amongst thickets of dense growth in fertile moist soil of an 

 open slope at 3250 feet. Stem terete, 1 inch thick, covered with thin 

 brownish bark and provided with sharp spines, very sparingly branched, 

 the upper leaf -bearing portion green but quite as thick as the parts below. 

 Leaves alternate, one foot apart more or less, horizontally spreading or 

 descending, all the stalks greenish-brown, provided with recurved hooks, 

 especially along the lower side. Petiole a foot long or longer. Sheath 3 

 inches long, fully one-half inch deep, adnate to the upper portion of the 

 peduncle and clasping the stem, smooth, turning brownish. Leaves proper 

 3 to 5 feet long, triangular in outline. Leaflets horizontally recurved, sub- 

 membranaceous, the upper surface somewhat shining. Inflorescence 

 spreading similar to the leaves but much shorter and tei'minating the stem; 

 simhar." 



The genus is well characterized by its habit, its very large decompound 

 leaves, its ample terminal inflorescence, and its 5- or 6-merous flowers, 

 the petals being imbricate, not valvate. It seems to me to be most 

 closely allied to Aralia, although in habit, and more especially in its recurved 

 spines, it recalls Acanthopanax ; in Acanthopanax, however, the petals are 

 valvate. 



I strongly suspect that this form is identical with the Celebes material 

 referred by Koorders * to Aralia ferox Miq. I saw Koorders's specimens in 

 the Buitenzorg Herbarium in January, 1914, but had no opportunity of 



*Meded. Lands Plantent. 19 (1899) 488; Syst. Verzeich. 2' (1914) 99. 



