18 melanacanthus. | BECCARI. MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMUS. 391 
104, CALAMUS MELANACANTHUS Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 211 (Ist edit.) 
aud 333, t. 116, f. 3 and t. z xxu, f. x; Kunth, Enum. Pl. iii, 
211; Griff. in Cale. Journ. Nat. Hist, 49 and Palms Brit, Ind. 
99; Walp. Ann. ii, 484 and v, 830; Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 115 
and De Palmis Arch. Ind., 27; Kurz in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 
xli, n. (1874), 215, t. xx B; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind, vi, 453; Bece. 
in Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind, ii, 208. | 
DzscRiPTIoN.—Scandent. Stem . . . « .  .Leaf-sheadhs . . . . . Leaves 
elongate, not cirriferous; petiole . . . . .; rachis in its upper portion bifaced above 
and armed beneath with small solitary claws; leaflets numerous, regularly  bifarious, 
equidistant, alternate or subopposite, nitescent, green even when dry, ulmost concolorous 
on both surfaces, linear-lanceolate, somewhat narrowed to the base, gradually acuminate 
into a very slender filamentose tip, tricostulate, the mid-costa very sparingly bristly- 
spinulous on both surfaces, the other two costae furnished with a few long bristles in 
the upper surface and naked beneath; transverse veinlets slender and distant and much 
interrupted ; margins aeute, furnished with very minute distant spinules, these closer near 
the summit; the largest lesflets, which are the lowest in one specimen of the upper part 
of a leaf, 17-18 cm. long and 10-11 mm, broad, very speedily diminishing towards 
the summit, where they are of the size and shape of willow leaves, almost obtuse and 
bristly at their apex; the two of the terminal pair shortly connate at the base, 4'5 em, 
long and 5 mu. broad. Female spadiz apparently very long and flagelliform with 
remote partial inflorescences and elongated axial portions, these armed on their 
convex outer side with strong solitary or aggregate dark-tipped claws; upper primary 
spathes very elongate, very narrowly tubular, cylindraceous, thinly coriaceous, very 
closely sheathing, green even when dry, not or indistinctly longitudinally striate, 
smooth in their upper part, obliquely truncate, entire and acute at one side at the 
mouth; partis] inflorescences inserted outside the mouth of their own spathes, callous 
at their upper axilla, the only one seen by me 20 cm. long, erecto-patent with a 
rather rigid axis, loosely panicled, bearing 5 distichous spikelets on each side 
secondary spathes tubular, cylindraceous, very slightly enlarged in their upper part, 
very closely sheathing, obliquely truncate at the mouth, acute at one side, ciliate at. 
the margin, unarmed, fugaciously squamulose and later glabrous; the lowermost 
obsoletely angular ; spikelets spreading or horizontal, inserted above the mouth of their 
town spathes, the lowest, the largest, 5-6 cm. long, with 6-7 alternately- distichous 
rather remote flowers on each side; spathels shortly tubular, cylindraceous, slightly 
enlarged above, truncate and ciliate at the mouth, subacute at one side; involu- 
crophorum exsert from its own spathel and laterally attached to the base of the one 
above, almost flat, subdiscoid with a very narrow limb; involucre very shallow, 
subdiscoid-pateriform, slightly exceeding the  involuerophorum, its margin entire or 
obsoletely toothed; areola of the neuter flower distinctly depressedly lunate. Fruiting 
perianih very distinctly pedicelliform, 3 mm. long, the calyx hardened, cylindraceous, 
about 3 mm. thick, not veined outside, teeth short very broadly triangular, acute; 
the corolla divided down almost to the middle into 3 ovate-lanceolate acute smooth 
(not veined) segments, slightly longer than the calyx; stamens with filaments highly 
united by their bases, shortly dentiform in the free portion. Fruit ovoid-elliptic, 
23-25 mm. long, 14-15 mm., broad, suddenly mucronate-mammillate at the summit, 
Ann. Roy. Bor. Garp. Carouvrra Vor. XI. 
