e. Diepenhorstii. | BECCARI. MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMUS. 323 
straight horizontal short spines, the faces smooth or prickly. Leaves not cirriferous, 
elongate, :7-1:4 m. long; petiole rather robust and long (30 cm. and sometimes 
even more), channelled near its base, otherwise flat and smooth above, its margins 
acute and armed with black-tipped rather closely set claws which extend to the 
sides of the first portion of the rachis; rounded beneath where armed, especially 
along the middle, with similarly black-tipped solitary claws, which pass unchanged but 
more approximate and decreasing in size through the whole length of the rachis; in 
its upper surface the rachis is smooth and not very acutely bifaced; leaflets 
numerous, rather closely set, equidistant, alternate, narrow and elongate or linear- 
ensiform, attenuate at the base, long-acuminate into a very slender and subulate 
tip, thinly papyraceous, subconcolorous on both surfaces, unicostate; the mid-costa acute 
and raised above, where sprinkled from the middle upwards with a few bristles; 
secondary nerves all smooth above, one of these on each side of the mid-costa some- 
times slightly stronger than the others; on the undersurface the mid-costa and one 
nerve on each side of it furnished with long black conspicuous bristles; margins 
slightly thickened by a secondary nerve, ciliate near the apex with a few black 
approximate bristles, otherwise smooth (not spinulous or ciliate); transverse veinlets 
slender; the largest leaflets, the mesial, 35-38 cm. and in very robust leaves even 
45 cm. long, 15-18 mm. broad, the upper ones gradually shorter, the two of the 
terminal pair free at the base, very narrow, 12-15 cm. long. Male spadiz very 
long, slender and lax, ultradecompound, 2-3 and more metres in length, strongly armed 
in the very long axial portious between two partial inflorescences with scattered 
or half-whorled, very acute, black-tipped claws, which rest on a light-coloured base; 
primary spathes thinly coriaceous, tubular, closely sheathing, fugaciously furfuraceous, 
thinly coriaceous; the lowest more or less flattened, two-edged, narrow, very long, 
entire and truncate at the mouth, the edges armed with short horizontal or deflexed 
spines, the faces smooth, or prickly in vigorous specimens; upper primary spathes 
excessively long, up to 60-70 cm., cylindraceous, truncate at the mouth where some- 
times split longitudinally, usually sparingly clawed in their upper part; partial inflor- 
escences few, very remote, very long (40-60 cm.), lax, slender, with a few simple 
spikelets at their summit and a good many secondary branches near their base; these 
8-10 and in vigorous specimens 15-20 cm. long, each  branchlet with 4-5 
spikelets on each side; branches, branchlets and spikelets provided with a distinct 
axillary callus and a transversal rima at their insertion; secondary spathes unarmed, 
very narrowly tubular, slightly enlarged in their upper part, very narrow at the base, 
where flat on the inner side, obliquely truncate at the mouth, slightly prolonged at one 
side into a short triangular point, this keeled on the back; spikelets horizontal or 
more or less deflexed, inserted just above the mouth of their own spathes, 1-3 cm. 
long with 5-12 flowers on each side; spathels very short and closely packed, 
furfuraceous, very broadly and shallowly infundibuliform, more or less distinctly 
striately veined, embracing the involucre, with an erect subobtuse point on the outer 
side; involucre cupular, rather deep, enclosed in the spathel, truncate and entire at 
the margin, posticously flat and acutely two-keeled. Male flowers distichous, approxi- 
mate, inserted at an angle of 45°, ovate, about 3 mm, long, rather blunt; the calyx 
tubular, cylindraceous, strongly striately veined, teeth broad; the corolla polished 
outside, one-third longer than the calyx. Female spadiz usually simply decompound, 
occasionally ultra-decompound, of very variable size, but always very long; in one 
Ann. Roy. Bor. Garp. Catcurra Vor. XI. 
