6 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. Ce. Laurentii. 
broad, those near the base are narrower but hardly shorter, towards the end are 
gradually shorter, and like the others acuminate and not or very indistinctly 
indented below the apex; those of the terminal pair are the smallest, very narrow, 
quite free or very shortly united by their bases. Male spadiz flagelliform, very 
slender and long (up to 4 m. in one specimen), simply decompound, with six gra- 
dually diminishing, very remote partial inflorescences, and lengthened out into a very 
slender, very minutely clawed, terminal flagellum; the lowest spathe is elongate, 
closely sheathing, somewhat flattened and rather acutely two-edged (especially near 
its base) and is armed on the outer surface and on the margins with very small 
claws, is obliquely truncate at the apex and produced into a triangular acute 
point; the upper spathes are very elongate, split along one side near the apex, 
which is lanceolate, membranous and marcescent, acute or sub-3-dentate; otherwise 
the primary spathes are very closely sheathing and cylindraceous in their upper 
part, and gradually pass lower down into a more slender axial part which is acutely 
angular on the inner side in its first portion and convex and strongly armed with 
rather robust 3-nate claws on the outer side; partial inflorescences elongate, attached 
inside their respective spathes with a  pedicellar part about 2 cm. long; the lowest 
partial inflorescence is 40 cm. long and bears distichally 15-16 spikelets on each 
side; the others are gradually shorter and have fewer spikelets; secondary spathes 
smooth, tubular-infundibuliform, obliquely truncate, deciduously ciliate at the mouth, 
often split along the inner side, produced externally into a triangular acute or 
acuminate point; spikelets not pedicellate but inserted inside the mouth of their 
respective spathes, strongly arched, vermicular, somewhat flattened, of a brown 
colour: the lower, largest, are up to 12—i4 cm. long. and have 25—30 flowers on 
each side; the upper are gradually shorter and with féwer flowers; spathels very 
approximate, finely striately veined, glabrescent or fugaciously slightly furfuraceous, 
broadly infundibuliform, produced at one side into a short acute triangular point; 
involucre obliquely cupular, tapering towards the base and attached at the base 
of its own spathel, very acutely two-keeled and deeply bidentate (not lunately 
excavate) on the side next to the axis, Wale flowers narrow, subfalcate, acuminate, 
8 mm. long; the calyx tubular, finely striately veined, rather deeply divided into 
3 acute lobes; the corolla about twice as long as the calyx, parted down almost 
to the base into 3 very narrow, very acuminate, falcate segments. Female spadiz.... 
Hasrrat.—On the banks of rivers in Belgian Lower Congo, collected in the 
neighbourhood of Eala by Marcel Laurent in 1903 (No. 126 in the  Biussels 
Herbarium). Native name “ Lokolokoto." 
OssERVATIONS.—It is probably only a local form of C, deerratus, from which 
it differs in the leaf-sheaths more densely armed with laminar, black, deflexed, 
closely and interruptedly seriate spines; in the longer, liguliform ocrea (later 
split into 2 parts), very densely armed with elongate, laminar, black, ascendant 
spines; in the leaflets more strongly spinulous-serrulate on the margins, rather 
numerous, very inequidistant, and on the lower part of the leaf approximate in 
separate groups with long vacant spaces interposed; in the involucre of the male 
flowers being more obliquely cupular, bilobed (not lunately excavate) on ‘the 
posticous side; finally in the male flowers narrowly falcate, 8 mm. long, acuminate, 
with the corolla twice as long as the calyx. 
