380 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. (C. zeylanicus. 
the middle) robust, bifaced above with the upper angle and side margies acute 
and smooth, rounded beneath, where armed with robust claws, solitary at first and 
3-nate upwards; leaflets numerous, equidistant, 1:5-3 cm. apart, papyraceous, almost 
shining above, opaque and slightly paler beneath, ensiform or very narrowly elongate- 
lanceolate, 25-35 cm. long, 2 cm. broad, narrowed to the base, acuminate at the 
summit into a slender bristly-caudate tip, with a rather deep indentation on the 
lower margin about 2 cm. from the apex and furnished with 3 slender costae, which 
are very sparingly bristly on the upper surface; on the lower surface all nerves very 
slender, the mid-costa closely covered with fine and short bristles and 3-5 other 
very slender nerves on each side of it also covered all along with hairs or very 
small and short bristles, which rest on a small bulb; transverse veinlets slender, rather 
distinct ;. margins slightly thickened by a siender marginant nerve, very adpressedly 
spinulous. Male spadix ultradecompound, not flagelliferous, apparently very large, not 
seen entire; partial inflorescences panicled pyramidate, rather dense, with many rather 
approximate branchlets, which are inserted inside at the bottom of their own spathe 
and are 15-20 cm. long, with 12-16 spikelets on each side; primary spathes 
. .; secondary  spathes shurt (2-3 cm. long), tubular-infundibuliform, 
fool truncate, entire and scaly-ciliolate at the mouth, smooth or very sparingly 
spinulous; tertiary spathes (spathes of the branchlets) shortly tubular-infundibuliform, 
4-5 mm. long, truncate, slightly apiculate at one side; spikelets broad and flat, 
15-20 mm, long, inserted with a narrow pedicel to the bottom of their respective 
spathe, witn 12-15 very closely set, flatly bifarious flowers on each side; spathes 
very closely packed, concave-subeymbiform, imbricate or partially enclosed one into the — 
other, horizontally truncate, entire, rounded at both sides; involucre enclosed into its 
own spathel, two-keeled, bidentate and lunately excavate on the side next to the axis. 
Malz flowers small oblong, often slightly curved, 4-5 mm. long when full grown; 
the calyx thin, membranovs, not distinctly veined, divided down about to the middle 
into 3 semi-ovate lobes and usually cleft down to the base; the corolla somewhat 
longer than the calyx, its segments lanceolate pergamentaceous, acute, finely striate ; 
anthers versatile; rudimentary ovary oblong, 3-suleate. Female spadiz very different | 
from the male one, simply decompound, very large, not flagelliferous at the apex 
and terminating with a short (10 cm.) rigid taillike prickly appendix; upper primary 
spathes (the lowermost not seen by me) elongate, tubular-cylindraceous, islightly 
enlarged above, thinly coriaceous, often split on the ventral side, prolonged at the 
summit into a short limb, aculeolate on the back in their upper part; partial 
inflorescences large, 40-60 cm. long and perhaps even more, rigid, diffuse, with 
many spikelets (5-3 cm. apart) on each side; secondary spathes tubular, slightly 
infundibuliform, 2:5-4 cm. long, truncate at the mouth, smooth or very sparingly 
spinulous; spikelets robust, 10-16 em, long, the upper ones somewhat shorter, 
pedicellate and inserted at the bottom of their own spathe, with 10-18 distichous 
flowers on each side; spathels short, infundibuliform, horizontally truncate, thinly 
coriaceous, not or. obsoletely striately veined, very slightly extended and acute at 
one side (that of the flower) where usually split; involucrophorum  calyciform 
narrowed at the base and inserted at the bottom of its own spathel, and therefore 
pedicellate, bidentate, two-keeled and lunately excavate on the side next to the 
axis} involucre obliquely cupular, rather deep, exceeding the involucrophorum — on 
the side of the neuter flower; areola ‘of the neuter flower ovate or elliptic, 
