10 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. C. kingianus, 
mouth is obliquely truncate, unarmed, bordered by a narrow membranous brittle rim, 
prolonged into an axillary perishable ligula. Leaves rather large, but the pinniferous 
part short (40—55 cm. in length); the petiole 12—20 cm. long, 6—8 mm. broad, very 
slightly flattened with round margins, beset all round with -short „prickles; rhachis 
‘subterete or very obsoletely-trigonous, armed with ternate Maus on the dorsum ; 
petiole and rhachis apparently very fugaciously mealy, later glabrous ; cirrus slender, 
armed at regular intervals with ternate claws. Leaflets very few, 3—5 on each side 
of the rhachis, alternate, rigid-papyraceous, cuneately rhomboidal, radiately plicate- 
pluricostulate. green above, paler or “glaucescent beneath ; the base acute, non-ansate ; 
the upper margins irregularly subduplicately lobulate and erosely toothed, the lobules 
occasionally setose-aristate ; the apex triangular or slightly produced, acute; the 
lowest leaflets are the largest, 20—30 em. long, 10—13 em. broad, those abore 
gradually smaller. Spadices sessile erect, male and female externally exactly alike ; 
spathe lanceolate-elliptical 20—28 cm. long, 4—7 cm. broad, strongly flattened, 
equally narrowing to both ends with a beaked triangular apex ; the margins at the 
base are minutely toothed, elsewhere smooth and very sharp; the body is rigid 
papyraceous, cinnamon-brown at first, thinly and very fugaciously mealy, later 
glabrous. Male panicle well furnished with flowers and completely filling the cavity 
of the spathe ; the main axis terete, strongly sinuous, 3 times divided ; the secondary 
branches also terete, slender and sinuous; the divisions of third ce are short 
flower-bearing branchlets, and carry 3—6 alternate flowers; the lowest internal 
(secondary) spathe is lanceolate-acuminate, considerably larger than the following ; 
outside of this is a lateral primary branch; the other secondary spathes of the 
main axis are tubular, closely sheathing, obliquely truncate at the mouth and produced 
at one side into a subulate point; the spathels (spathes of the flower-bearing branch- 
lets) are shortly infundibuliform, produced at one side into a triangular acute 
spreading point, which suffults a sessile male flower ; the latter provided with a small 
very shallowly eupular, trigonous, 3-toothed svaluoré. Male flowers regularly oblong, 
blunt, trigonous, 5 mm. long, 2 mm. broad; the calyx shortly cupular, trigonous 
three-toothed ; the corolla several times longer than the calyx, divided not 
quite to the base. into 3 coriaceous, linear petals, callous (nectariferous ?) internally 
in their lowest undivided part, striate, and very finely shagreened externally, when 
seen through a strong lens; stamens having very slender subulate filaments, 
inflexed at the apex, inserted near the base of the  petals, and alternating with 
their callosities ; anthers linear, very narrow, bluntish, attached at the middle of 
the dorsum; the cells parallel, dehiscing laterally ; rudimentary ovary extremely 
small, papilliform. The female panicle is strict, always even after the anthesis 
within its spathe, twice branched; the main amis  obtusely angular, bearing 
alternately not many gradually smaller fastigiate branches, which are divided again 
into few -flower-bearing branchlets, subunilaterally bearing 2—3 female flowers only, 
each of which is accompanied by a neuter one; spathes of the branches and 
spathels as in the male spadix; both involucrophorum and involucre shallowly- 
eupular, 3-toothed; the areola of the neuter flower punctiform. Female flowers 
subglobose, 3 mm. in diameter at the, base, and trigonous-pyramidate above ; the 
calyx membranous, very short, shallowly-cupular, 3-toothed; the corolla considerably 
longer than the calyx, parted a little above the base into 3 deltoid acute 
segments, its undivided part being very short; filaments connate below with the 
