K. rigida. KORTHALSIA. 125 
are, as usual, smaller, have a shorter cirrus and smaller leaflets (8—10 em. by 3:5 
—4 cm.) are more briefly cuneate at the base and more regularly rhomboidal. 
The primordial leaves are undivided and oblong-flabellate. Inflorescence twice dif- 
fusedly branched, 1 m. long, and more; the primary branches 50—60 cm. long, 
Givided into several secondary branches. . Spathes elongate-tubular, slightly infundi- 
buliform, closely sheathing, unarmed, their mouths truncate and slightly produced 
at one side into a triangular acute point; the secondary or spike-bearing branches 
are slender, 3—4 mm. in diameter, 25—30 em. long, and bear 5—-6 spikes. The 
spikes are aitached by a slender flattened pedicellar part to the bottom of their res- 
pective spathes, but appear to be inserted at the mouth of these; the latter are spread- 
ing or recurved, and all more or less turned to one side, very slender, flexuous, 
8—10 em. long, 3—5 mm. in diameter (not taking into account the flowers), and of 
a glabrous appearance; the spathels are broadly triangular, concave, like a swallow's 
nest, and suffult the bases of the flowers, obtuse, membranous, strongly striately 
veined, free (not connate by their margins) and produced beyond the wool of the 
flower-bracts ; it is for this reason that the spikes assume a glabrous appearance; 
the floral bracteoles are small, almost entirely reduced to dense tufts of short 
woolly hairs, which make rather deep nest or cup-like involucres to the flowers. 
Flowers arranged in 7 longitudinal series, immersed’ in their woolly bracteoles by 
the lower part of the calyx only; the full grown flower buds are 4 mm. long, 
2 mm. broad, oblong, terete, obtuse; the calyx is cyathiform, somewhat attenuate 
at the base, and exserted from the wool of the flower bracteoles, strongly striately 
veined, parted to the middle into 3, broad, obtuse lobes; the corolla is twice or 
nearly three times as long as the calyx and is divided nearly to the base into 
three oblong, externally-striate segments; the stamens have short and thick fila- 
ments, united at the base with the corolla, and subulate at the apex; anthers 
elongate-sagittate, bluntish or apiculate; ovary ovoid, attenuate above to a short and 
suleate, conical acute style, reaching with the apex only to a little above the 
bases of the anthers ; stigmas very minute. Fruit very small, 8 mm. long, 4 mm. 
broad, obovoid-turbinate, very suddenly and minutely beaked, narrowing below to ` 
a rather acute base; scales very small, 1°5 mm. broad and about as long, arranged 
in 15 longitudinal series, uniformly brown, convex, deeply furrowed along the centre; 
the apex blunt, appressed ; the margins very finely and densely ciliate. In the 
specimens at my disposal the fruits are immature, but probably they had attained 
nearly their definitive dimensions. The seed, however, is not fully developed, but 
apparently the albumen is ruminate. 
HansrraT.— Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Billiton, Bangka, and perhaps 
Borneo. Blume gives for his K. rigida the localities of Sumatra and Borneo. 
Martius (l. c. p. 343) adds also Java; Miquel (Prodr. Fl. Sum. l. c.) mentions 
Padang in West Sumatra. It is quite possible that this species grows also in Borneo, 
as it has.been found in Billiton (Heyne No. 4 in Buitenzorg Herbarium) the island 
between Borneo and Sumatra, and in Bangka at Klinju (Grashoff No. 60 in Herb. 
Buitenzorg and Becc). It is on the Billiton specimens that I have based the 
description of the fruit, and it is the specimens coming from this place as from 
Sumatra that particularly represent the typical K. rigida Bl.; whereas the specimens 
that are really to be considered as belonging to K. polystachya are Griffith's from’ 
