416 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. [C. neglectus e 
152, Catamus wEGLEOTUS Bece. in Hook. fil Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. '458 and ix 
Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. ii 213, : 
Description.—Very probably scandent and apparently rather slender.  Leaf-sheatha 
e. « « . Leaves cirriferous, not seen entire; petiole . . . . .; rachis in its 
upper part acutely trigonous, glabrous, bifaced and smooth above, flat beneath where 
armed along the middle with solitary claws which become 3-nate upwards and regularly 
half-whorled in the cirrus; leaflets numerous equidistant, rather approximate, alternate 
or subopposite, thinly papyraceous, rather firm, green and subconcolorous on both 
surfaces, elongate and narrow or linear-lanceolate, somewhat narrowed to and acute at. 
the base, long-acuminate into a subulate setose apex, with the mid-costa acute and 
one slender nerve on each side of it sprinkled with fulvous bristles in the upper 
surface; underneath the not prominent mid-costa only more or less covered with 
approximate minute hairs; transverse veinlets slender short and not very crowded ; 
margins with rather remote fine hairs which are more spreading towards the summit ; 
the largest leaflets, the lower ones in the specimen of the upper part of one leaf 
seen by me, 18-20 cm. long, 10-13 mm. broad, the others gradually smaller, the 
uppermost narrower and about one-half smaller than the lower ones, not taking account 
of a few diminutive ones at the base of tbe cirrus. Male spadis . . . . . Female 
spadiz simply decompound (not seen entire), rather large, the axis robust and 
rigid with many rather approximate (8-10 cm. apart) partial inflorescences; lowest 
primary spathe . . . . .; upper primary spathes tubular-cylindraceous, thinly 
coriaceous, closely sheathing, rather short, somewhat narrowed to the base, where flattish 
on the inner side, almost polished, armed with scattered short broad-based claws, 
truncate and entire at the mouth, prolonged at one side into a short triangular point, 
this keeled on the back, where more densely prickly than elsewhere; partial inflores- 
cences arising erect “from or a little above the mouth of their own spathe and then 
speedily arched-spreading; those seen by me about 25 cm. long, their axis slightly 
sinuous, 3-4 mm, in diam. with 5-6 distichously alternate spikelets on each side; 
secondary spathes elongate-infundibuliform, pergamentaceous, glabrous, finely striate, 
sparingly spinulous truncate and entire at the mouth, prolonged at one side into a 
short triangular point; spikeiets arched, spreading, inserted just above the mouth of 
their own spathe with a not conspicuous axillary callus, 6-7 cm. Jong, the lowermost 
barely longer than the extreme, with 8-10 alternately distichous rather remote flowers 
on each side; the axis zig-zag sinuous; spathels glabrous, short, broadly asymmetrically 
infundibuliform, narrowed a good deal to the base, entire and finely ciliolate at the 
mouth and prolonged at one side into a short, broadly triangular, acute point; 
involucrophorum laterally adnate outside its own spathel at the base of the one above, 
two-keeled and bidentate on the side next to the axis and slightly callous at the axilla ;. 
involucre irregularly cupular, striately veined like the spathels, obsoletely bidentate on 
the side of the neuter flower of which the areola is depressedly lunate and sharply 
bordered. Female flowers 4-5 mm. long, inserted at an angle of 45°. Fruiting 
perianth subpedicelliform, the calyx hardened and callous and split down not quite to 
the base into 3 very broad acute lobes; the segments of the corolla as long as the 
calyx but narrower than its lobes; staminal urceolum crowned by 6 triangular teeth, 
Fruit (immature) ovoid-elliptie, small, 6 mm. broad, suddenly contracted -into a long 
cylindraceous beak; scales in 18 series, rather opaque, slightly convex not or very 
