GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 15 
The island of Bangka, the flora of which appears to have more affinity with that 
of Sumatra than with that of Java, possesses no indigenous forms of Daemonorops so 
far as is known at present, but it does possess some varieties or geographical forms 
of D. melanochaetes, a variety of D. palembanicus together with D. trichrous and D, 
periacanthus—also found in Sumatra, and D. longipes, which may be considered to be 
the most widely diffused species of the genus. 
The five Daemonorops of Celebes ure all endemic Piptospathae, but four of these 
(D. macropterus, D. Sarasinorum, D. robustus, D. lamprolepis) form a sub-group by 
themselves, characterized by the inner spathes extending only very slightly beyond 
the outermost; to this group belongs D. niger, a species proper to the Moluccas, 
The fifth Celebesiau species (D. Riedelianus) is a typical Piptospatha. 
The Philippine species of Daemonorops are seven in number; of these 
D. Gaudichaudi and D. Curranit are respectively related to D. Riedelianus from 
Celebes and D. elongatus from Borneo; D. Loherianus apparently belongs to a group 
of species peculiar to Celebes (D. macropterus, D. lamprolepis); D. ochrolepis and 
D. Clemensianus approach D. Calapparius of the Moluccas; D. Margaritae var. palawanicus 
is one of the forms referable to the polymorphic D.  melanochaetes, and D. virescens 
is plainly derived from D. longipes; hence it is clear that the Daemonorops of the 
Philippines, although endemic, are derived from forms belonging to Celebes and 
the Moluccas. From all that has been stated, it is easy to deduce that the 
formative centre of the Daemonorops lies within the area in which the Malayan 
Peninsula, Borneo and Sumatra are included; and that thence certain species 
have spread out to the extreme limits of Malaysia, into Celebes, the Philippines, 
the Moluccas, to the Aru Group, into the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, and into the 
maritime tropical parts of China. 
The division Cymbospatha has its principal focus in the Malayan Peninsula, 
whereas the greater number of Piptospatha species are found in Borneo, No 
Cymbospatha is known to exist in Celebes, in the Philippine Group proper, or in the 
Moluccas, and but one, as mentioned above, grows in Palawan. It follows therefore 
that the Cymbospathae constitute the most characteristic group of palms of the most 
central division of the Malayan flora. The greater number of Daemonorops prefer 
the low-lying forests near the coasts for their habitat. It is among these that 
the species with the widest geographical distribution are found; also it seems to 
be quite clear that it is from these littoral species that those others which have 
strayed farthest from the original centre of production derive their origin. 
Thus D. palembanicus and D. melanochaetes may derive from D. Manii and D. 
Kurzianus of the Andaman Islands; while D. aruensis of the Aru Group is again 
derived from D. melanochaetes; D. longipes may have been the parent of D. virescens 
in the Philippines, and perhaps of another species also, which inhabits the most 
southern islands of the Japanese Group. 
The Daemonorops do not appear to seek so high a mountain habitat as the Calami. 
JD. Jenkinsianus is certainly a species which prefers mountainous regions, but it 
does not apparently attain any very great elevation either in the Himalayas or in 
Assam. Some species proper to the Malayan Peninsula (D. monticolus, D. vagans and 
