C. sabensis. |  BECCARI MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMUS. 245 
65. CALAMUS SABENSIs Becc. sp. n. 
Description.—Slender, scandent. Sheathed stem about 15 mm. in diam, Leafsheaths 
gibbous above, armed. (in the .small portion’ seen by me) with. scattered. horizontal 
spines. Leaves apparently about 60 cm. long (not seen entire by me), petiole very’ 
short (about 2 cm. long in one specimen), with short prickles all round ;: rachis armed 
beneath in its first portion with very small black4ipped scattered claws; leaflets very 
few, remote, inequidistant, lanceolate, almost equally gradually narrowed to both ends, 
acute at. the base, acuminate at the summit, 30-32 cm. long, 28-34 mm. broad, 
rather firmly papyraceous, concolorous, glabrous, spineless and without bristles on both 
surfaces, distinctly 3- and near the base 5-costulate; transverse veinlets much inter- 
rupted and numerous, rather sharp on the upper surface; margins minutely and 
appressedly spinulous. Male spadic . . . . . Female spadiz simply decompound, 
slender, very elongate, flagelliform, with very remote partial inflorescences; upper 
primary spathes cylindraceous, very elongate, very densely armed in their upper part 
with very small scattered deflexed prickles, truncate at the mouth, where prolonged 
at one side into a short triangular point, slightly and gradually narrowed to the 
base into a flat and slender, dorsally prickly axial part; partial inflorescences 
inserted at the mouth of their respective spathes with a distinct axillary callus and 
rima, very elongate and slender, 85` em. long in one specimen, with 17 (in all) 
remotely alternate spikelets; secondary spathes 4-5 cm, long, narrowly tubular, 
subclavate or very slightly enlarged above, narrowed to the base where flat with acute 
margin on the inner side, truncate and ciliate at the mouth, very shortly prolonged 
at one side into a broadly triangular point, with very few and very small hooked 
prickles here and there, but especially near the summit; spikelets spreading, inserted 
at the mouth of their respective spathes with a distinct axillary callus; the lower ones 
the largest, 5-5°5 cm. long with 15-16 flatly bifarious flowers on each side, the 
upper ones not much shorter; spathels very shortly and broadly unilaterally infundi- 
buliform or concave, subcymbiform, prolonged at one side into a triangular acute 
tip, finely veined, sometimes subscabrid; involucrophorum almost exsert from its own 
spathel and laterally attached to the base of the one above; involucre cupular, almost 
entire or bidentate on the side of the neuter flower, of which the areola is very 
conspicuous, subcircular, often concave, with very acute borders. Female flowers small, 
about 3 mm. long; the calyx divided down to about the middle into 3 triangular 
acute teeth; the segments of the corolla narrower than the teeth of the calyx and 
slightly longer. Fruiting perianth distinctly pedicelliform. Fruit ovoid-elliptic, 12 mm, 
long, including the perianth ‘and the beak, 8 mm. broad; scales in 18 longitudinal 
series, not channelled along the middle, brownish, rather dull with a narrow very 
dark shining marginal line; this broader towards the slightly prolonged and rather 
acute point. Sed oblong, coarsely and deeply pitted; albumen with a superficial 
intrusion of the integument; embryo basal. —The leaves acquire a tobacco-brown 
colour in herbarium specimens. 
HasrrAr,— North Borneo or Saba: Bongaya River in Labuk bay, Ridley Decem- 
ber 1897, No. 9038 in Herb, Kew. 
OBSERVATIONS, —It resembles C. scabridulus a good deal and, airing” the natural 
affinities, it ought to be placed next to it, but the secondary — are not scabrid, 
