38 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. P. assamica. 
orbicular-depressed, 1 cm. in diameter, 6 mm. high. Fruiting periant&@» 15. mm. 
across between the apices of the segments of the corolla; the calyx half as long 
as the corolla, more or less 3-lobed, being split in the sinuses. 
Hanrrar.—Sikkim Himalaya, especially abundant in the Darjeeling District from 
1200 to 2000 m. elevation.  (GrZfith, Herb. East India Comp. No. 6424 in 
Herb. Kew); Hook, f. & Thomson exsiccata /P. montana) in fruit; and several 
other collectors.) Vern. n. " Tahri Bet" (Nep.); *Ranul, Runul, Ranol" (Lepcha). 
It produces soft canes of very little use except occasionally for tying fences, and 
for rough basket work (Gamble). In fact the cortical part of the stem of this 
Palm is not so strongly silicified as that of the more useful Rinds of Rattan 
canes. 
OnsERVvATIONS.—I have seen of this species the entire upper part of a flowering 
female plant, kindly forwarded to me from Darjeeling by Sir David Prain; with 
this material I have been able to give an almost complete descripiion of this 
palm. Its main diagnostie notes are: The sheaths furnished with raised muricate 
or spinous ridges; the leaves with leaflets green on both surfaces erfding in fila- 
mentose tips; the spikes with only one vacuous spathel at its base, and with 
the axial parts softly tomentose; the spathels oblong, twice as long as broad, 
finely tomentose outside; the male flowers sessile with short shallow glabrous 
trigonous calyx; the female flowers with shallow cupular thinly cartilaginous tri- 
gonous calyx, and the corolla twice as long as the calyx; the ovary with strigose 
non-laciniate scales, the stigmas sessile subulate; the fruit globular, relatively small, 
not woolly; the scales with toothed-papillose margins and obtuse tips, the latter 
appressed or very slightly squarrose; the seed orbicular-depressed; the fruiting 
perianth quite explanate. 
Prare 23.—Plectocomia himalayana Grif.—Portion of a partial inflorescence with 
not quite mature fruits, from a specimen collected in Sikkim by Sir D. Prain in 
1902. Two mature fruits and one seed (chalazal side) from Tukdah in Darjeel- 
ling (Gamble). Upper part of a leaf sheath and intermediate portion of a leaf 
from a young plant collected in the Darjeeling District by Brandis. 
8. PrEcTOCOMIA assamica.—Griff in Cale. Journ. Nat. Hist. v. 97: Palms Brit. 
Ind. 107, t. 218 aa; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm, iii, 199, t. 166, f. si; 
Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vi, 479; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 650; Gamble, Man. 
Ind. Timb. 2nd ed. 737. 
Zalucca? assamica Lodd. ex Mig. Fl. Ind. Bat. iii, 81. 
Description.—Leaves (not seen by me) very large; leaflets white and finely 
furfuraceous beneath. 45—60 cm. long, 6—6'5 cm. wide, tip not- thread-like, coste 
slender; petiole nearly 4 cm. broad, with stout marginal spines and short seriate 
scattered rm of more slender dorsal ones (Descr. from Hooker l.c.). Male 
spikes eit . Female spikes 70 cm. to 1 m. and over in length; the main 
axis slightly sinuous, clothed with adherent soft thin rusty tomentum; the inter- 
nodes 2—2°5 cm. long, slightly clavate, subterete or obsoletely angaar: Spathels 
as usual distiehous, cuneate-oblong, more than twice as long as broad (6—7 cm. 
