‘GO. Merrillii.] ^ BECCARI. MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS CALAMUS, 391 
brown exsuccous bristly-hispid rim on the mouth of the sheaths. Leaves very large, 
the upper ones cirriferous; petiole very robust, as much as 3:5—4 cm. broad (in one 
leaf 25 cm. long), polished, naked at the base and beneath, and like the first portion 
of the rachis shallowly and broadly channelled above, armed at the margins with 
numerous very short straight erect conic prickles; rachis in its first portion round 
beneath, slightly channelled and with two acute spinulous angles above and broad side- 
faces, where are inserted the leaflets; higher up the spinulous angles are always more 
approximate and finally they become united into a single acute remotely spinulous 
salient angle; beneath, it is at first round and upwards obsoletely angular: and 
strongly armed with extraordinarily robust digitate claws; the cirrus very robust and 
bearing at distances of 3-5 cm., $-whorls of very stout broad-based black-tipped 
claws; leaflets very numerous, equidistant, approximate, 15-20 mm. apart in the 
basal and intermediate portion, more distant towards the summit, elongate-ensiform, 
shortly narrowed to and deeply plicate at the base, gradually acuminate from not very 
far above the base into a subulate apex, 40-45 cm. long (the upper ones shorter) 
25-27 mm, broad, papyraceous, opaque and concolorous on both surfaces when full- 
grown, apparently slightly meely-white beneath when young, more or less distinctly 
tricostulate, with the mid-costa rather strong, naked or sparingly bristly only near the 
summit; the side costae slender and more or less furnished with long bristles above; 
below the mid-costa furnished with long bristles and the side costae very slender and 
naked; transverse veinlets inconspicuous; margins thickened by a rather distinct 
marginant nerve and minutely, rather spreadingly and rather closely spinulous, Mak 
spadix large, broadly panicled-pyramidate, shorter than the leaves, about 1'2 m. long 
with an erect rigid axis, and with about 5 distichous approximate gradually dimin- 
ishing partial inflorescences on each side, not flagelliferous at its apex and terminating 
in an unarmed sheathed tail-like appendix; primary spathes rather short, 10-12 
em. long in the exposed part, tubular, closely sheathing, the lowest flattened, slightly 
longer, the others armed with short scattered prickles on the back and with a few 
long spines at its base on the not very sharp edges; upper primary spathes sub- 
cylindraceous, slightly enlarged above, thinly coriaceous, often longitudinally split but 
not lacerated, more or less sprinkled with small solitary, scattered, short, semi-conic 
prickles, entire and naked at the mouth and prolonged at one side into a triangular 
acuminate point; partial inflorescences inserted at the bottom of their own spathe 
with a long pedicelliform part, rather dense, pyramidate; the lower ones, the largest, 
- 35-40 cm. long with 6-7 gradually decreasing secondary inflorescences or spicigerous 
branchlets and terminating in a short unarmed sheathed appendix; secondary spathes 
tubular-cylindraceous, slightly infundibuliform, about 3 cm. long in the exposed 
part, almost horizontally truncate and naked at the mouth, shortly apiculate at one 
side, glabrous, thinly coriaceous, entire or sometimes longitudinally split but not 
lacerated; secondary inflorescences  ascendent, stalked and inserted inside at the 
base of their respective spathes; the lower ones, the largest, 14-15 cm. long with 
13415 erecto-patent pinnate spikelets on each side; tertiary spathes (spathes of the 
branchlets) shortly infundibuliform, horizontally truncate, entire and naked at the 
mouth, shortly apiculate at one side; spikelets also inserted inside at the bottom of 
their own spathe with a distinct flattened pedicel, the lower ones, the largest, 
about 25 mm. long, very brittle with 11-12 very approximate, flatly bifarious 
flowers on each side; spathels very. closely packed, concave-subcymbiform, with a 
