P. dubius. PLECTOCOMIOPSIS. 5T 
horizontally at the mouth, of a light colour, at first very slightly scurfy, later 
glabrescent, armed rather densely with very short conical, sharp, scattered, pale 
prickles ; no trace of ocrea or ligula. Leaves moderately large; the one seen by me 
apparently belonging to the intermediate part of the plant, has a rather elongate 
petiolar part, 15 mm. broad, slightly scurfy, flattish above and furrowed along the 
centre, convex underneath and armed along the dorsum with distant small spines ; 
the margins acute and provided with distant, short, broad-based spines; the rhachis 
of the pinniferous part is thinly rusty-furfuraceous, especially beneath, where armed 
with distant, at first single, then geminate, and finally 3-nate claws; it is concave 
above along the centre in its lower portion, and is trigonous in transverse section 
upwards; the cirrus is very long, and armed at very regular intervals with half- 
whorls of not very strong claws. Leaflets numerous, equidistant, 5—6 cm. apart on 
each side, firmly papyraceous, lanceolate, largest about their middle, gradually and 
almost equally narrowing towards both ends with the base acute and more or less 
callous at its axila and underneath, gradually acuminate from above the middle 
upwards to a very fine, capillary, slightly bristly tip, glossy above, slightly paler 
and dull on the undersurface, which is closely sprinkled with very minute pale 
dots, visible only under a lens; the mid-costa is slender, smooth or oecasionally 
furnished with 1—2 straggling spinules ; the secondary nerves are numerous, 10—12 
on each side of the mid-costa, unequal and connected by sharp transverse veinlets ; 
margins not or only very slightly thickened, quite smooth ; the intermediate leaflets 
are 45—38 cm. long, 3—4 cm. broad; the upper leaflets gradually diminish in size, 
until the uppermost are reduced to the sheath and rhachis only, the latter bearing 
few very narrowly linear leaflets and terminating in a slender clawed, gradually 
shortened cirrus. The male infloresence is a large compound terminal panicle, composed 
of several branches or partial inflorescences, each issuing from the axilla of a reduced 
leaf; one of the branches (apparently one of the lowest) is about 65 em. long, has 
a rather robust arched main axis, and is sheathed by  spathes bearing in their 
axillas pendulous, slender, flaccid spikelet-bearing branchlets. The spathes of the 
main axis are greenish even when dry, tubular-infundibuliform, closely sheath- 
ing, about 15 mm. long in the exposed part, finely striate, puberulous, almost 
horizontally truncate at their mouths, and produced at one side into a triangular 
acute or acuminate point. The spikelet-bearing branchlets are inserted near the 
bottom of their respective spathes through a flattened pedicellar part, are of vari- 
able length, according to the dimension of and the position they occupy on the 
partial’ inflorescences ; the largest are 30—45 cm. long and bear distantly up to 
30—35 spikelets on each side; others are only 10—15 em. long with proportionally 
fewer spikelets; spathes of the branchlets slightly scaly-scurfy, striately 
veined, infundibuliform, the mouths rather wide, truncate, ciliate on the margin and 
produced at one side into a triangular subulate point. Male spikelets scorpioid, 
inserted a little inside the mouth of their respective spathes ; the lowest and 
largest spikelets 10—12 mm. long, bearing the flowers in 2 series, each series being 
composed of 8—10 slightly assurgent, closely packed flowers; upper spikelets 
gradually smaller and with fewer flowers; spathels ringent, bracteiform, acuminate 
from a broad concave base; involucre shallow, concave, bidentate on the side, next 
to the axis, or as if it were formed by two bracts connate by their bases; 
spathels and involuera strongly striately veined, ciliate and slightly hairy-seurfy. 
ANN. Roy. Bot. GARD., CALCUTTA. VoL. XII. 
