296 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. [@. paspalanthus. 
Leaves not cirriferous, rather large, in one specimen 1'7 m. in length including the 
petiole; this 45 cm. long, rather robust, 1 cm. thick, deeply and broadly 
channelled above, rounded and except towards the summit smooth beneath, closely 
armed on the acute margins with very short straight spines, which are solitary 
and horizontal upwards, longer, geminate or ternate and pointing in different directions 
near the base; rachis covered with a permanent woolly-furfuraceous (in youth brown- 
purplish) indumentum, smooth and except near its base bifaced above, armed on the 
lower surface with a central series and in its first portion sometimes with 3 
series, of small solitary or towards the summit 2-3-fid claws.  Leaf-sheath flagella 
very long (in one specimen 2°5 m. in length) with a long flattened and two- 
edged base, the edges more or less armed with delicate straight ascendent spines, 
subterete upwards, very closely sheathed by long spathes, these split longitudinally 
and lacerated in their upper part, and armed with half-whorls of small claws; 
leaflets very numerous, very regularly and very closely inserted at an angle of 45° 
(about 15 mm. apart and towards the summit even closer), thin and subherbaceous 
in texture, narrowly linear, very slightly attenuate to and suddenly plicate at the 
base, very gradually acuminate into a very slender setaceous tip, this bristly-ciliate 
at the sides, green even when dry and concolorous on both surfaces, very finely stri- 
olate longitudinally beneath, with 3 acute and almost equally strong costae, which 
are  bristly-spinulous above (the mesial only near its summit), less prominent 
beneath, where the 3 are very minutely and very closely covered with small very 
fine light cilia; transverse veinlets rather sharp, much interrupted and not very 
crowded; margins appressedly and minutely spinulous; all leaflets, except those 
towards the summit which are suddenly shorter, of the same size, 30 cm, long, 
8-9 mm. broad; the two of the terminal pair quite free at the base. Male spadix 
very long, flagelliform, ultradecompound with large long and diffuse partial inflores- 
cences, one of these 50 cm. long with some simple spikelets at the summit and 
with many branchlets in its lower portion; of these branchlets the lower ones up to 
20 em. long and with many (9-10) regularly distichous spikelets on each side; 
the axis of the branchlets straight and rigid; secondary spathes covered with a 
rusty-furfuraceous adherent scurf, narrow, closely sheathing, elongate-infundibuliform, 
unarmed, thin, obliquely truncate at the mouth, where usually split and prolonged at 
one side into a triangular subscarious lacerate point; spikelets inserted a little inside 
the mouth of their respective spathos, complanate, very regularly pectinate, the lower 
ones, the largest, 15-20 mm. long (the upper ones somewhat smaller’, with 10-15 
perfectly and closely bifarious subhorizontal flowers on each side; spathels very short, 
very closely packed, bracteiform, concave, very broad, with an acute ascendent point 
which subtends the involucre; this regularly cupular, deep, with entire truncate margin, 
Female spadix very different from the male one, very elongate and very lax, in one 
specimen 3'5 m, long including a rather robust flagellum, with 6 very remote partial 
inflorescences; the flagellum closely armed with half-whorled claws; the peduncular 
portion excessively long, compressed, flat on the inner side, slightly convex on the 
back, its margins acute, armed with short irregular prickles; the axial portions between 
two partial inflorescences very long, subterete or slightly compressed, strongly armed 
with half-whorls of sharp dark-tipped claws which extend also on the back of the 
base of the spathes; primary spathes as in the male spadix, lacerated and as long as 
or longer than their respective inflorescences, the lowest very long, flattened, coalescing 
