124 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. [D. didymophyllus 
with a very thin, adherent, rubiginous, furfuraceous indumentum, transversely armed 
with many horizontal or slightly reversed series of short, rigid, comb-like, confluent 
Spines; the inner spathes are 5-6 in number (not taking into account 2-3 of the 
apex and rudimentary) and gradually protrude one above the other; they are 
blunt or split-bidentate at the upper end, and are armed with the usual comb-like 
spines on their upper and exposed dorsal parts; the flowering panicle is strict, narrow, 
and with 6-7 partial inflorescences that are appressed, cupressiform, and have many 
branchlets; the spikelets are about 2 cm. long, and carry on the whole 10-14 not very 
regularly bi-seriate flowers ; their axes finely rusty-furfuraceous, very slender, acutely 
angular and sinuous; spathels very small, bracteiform, triangular, acute; involucre of 
2 opposite, triangular, acute bracts connate by their bases, similar to the spathels 
and about as long. Male flowers slender, almost linear, linear-oblong, obtuse, obsoletely 
angular and asymmetric by mutual pressure, 4 mm. long ; the calyx shortly cupular, 
broadly 3-toothed; the corolla three times as long as the calyx. Female spadix nodding 
or recurved or at times erect, a good deal shorter than the male, ellipsoid-oblong 
before flowering, 15-30 cm. long, not including a more or less elongate, slender 
pedicellar part; the spathes are imbricate; the inner very slightly protruding beyond 
the outermost, all thinly coriaceous and of a rigid texture, oblong, concave-cymbi- 
form or spoon-like, terminating in a short triangular and obtuse point, prickly like 
those of the male spadix ; the outermos: spathe is deeper, broader and more strongly armed 
than the inner; the peduncular part is 2-10 cm. long, slender, flattened, 2-edged, 
almost smooth, or at times strongly armed with short, robust, digitate, divergent, 
prickles; the main axis rather thick, covered by a very thin, adherent, rusty- 
furfuraceous indumentum, and carrying 5-6 partial inflorescences of which only the lowest 
(2-3) are branched or divided into 6-7 spikelets, while the upper ones are composed of 
only 1-3 small few-flowered spikelets; secondary spathes very shortly infundibuli- 
form, extended at one side into a broadly triangular, acute point; spikelets short, the 
largest 3-4 cm. long with 5-6 flowers in all; their axes thickish, strongly sinuous, 
acutely 3-gonous; spathels with a short annular limb extended at one side into 
very broad and short, acute point; involucrophorum short and thick, obconical, more 
or less angular, extended at one side at the apex into a triangular acute point ; 
the involucre has a short thick base, is slightly raised above the involuerophorum, 
and is flat and discoid above; the dise or floral torus is edged by a Ario, 
usually unilaterally evolute, annular limb; areola of the neuter flower concave, titshe. 
like, the scar not tumescent. Female flowers conical, flat at the base, acute, 7 mm. 
long, their calyx cupular-obconical, with 3 very broad, superficial, apiculate lobes on 
the margin,  rusty-furfuraceous, and finely striately-veined ; the corolla a little 
more than twice as long as the calyx, parted down almost to the base into 3 
triangular, acuminate segments; stigmas thickly trigonous-subulate, not surpassing the 
segments during anthesis. Neuter flowers 5-6. 5 mm, long, slender, similar to tho ils 
ones. Fruiting perianth quite explanate, Fruit broadly ovoid, with a very slightly 
conical top, very minutely mucronulate, when quite mature 17-18 mm. broad, 20-21 
mm, long; scales regularly rhomboidal, obtuse, arranged in 15 longitudinal series 
narrowly and rather deeply grooved along the centre, of a deep yellow-straw olo, 
but more or less tinged blood-red by a thin resinous covering. Seed irregular] i 
globular, gibbous-ventricose on the raphal side, about 13 mm. long and about 1 24 
less in breadth and thickness, minutely pitted: embryo basal. : 
