208 ANNALS OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CALCUTTA. (D. longispathus 
the branchlets is straight, rather slender and angular; secondary and tertiary spathes 
very thinly membranous, exsuccous, reddish-brown, as are every appendicular part and 
the flowers themselves; these spathes are infundibuliform and embrace the bases of 
the branchlets and of the spikelets, and are conspicuously produced on one side into 
a spreading, plicate, broadly triangular, acute point; they are usually longitudinally 
. cleft on one or other side; spikelets spreading, callous at their insertion, slightly 
flexuose, explanate, the flowers being perfectly flatly bifarious; the lowest spikelets are 
6-7 cm. long, and have 18-20 contiguous flowers on each side; spathels approximate, 
shortly and widely infundibular, horizontally truncate, glabrous, finely reticulate and 
striately veined, their points obtuse and subtending their respective flowers, frequently 
more or less lacerated; involucre entirely immersed within its spathes, very obliquely 
cupular, being produced on the posticous side, where acutely 2-keeled, the keels 
furfuraceous or covered with small paleolae. Male flowers  linear-oblong, obtuse, 
slightly curved, inserted at an angle of about 45, 5 mm, long, L5 mm. thick? 
the calyx tubular-cyathiform, with 3 short and broad teeth which have a tuft of 
ferrugineous paleolae on their apex; the corolla about twice as long as the calyx, 
parted not quite down to the base into three linear segments so as to have only a 
very short tubular part; the stamens have the base of the filaments connate to the 
undivided or tubular part of the corolla, are subulate in the free portion, and have 
inflected apices; anthers versatile, linear, very narrow; rudimentary ovary formed by 
three small linear, subulate bodies, about as long as the tubular part of the corolla. 
Female spadiz not very different from the male, but of very variable dimensions ; 
the panicle varies from 40 em. to 1:2 m, in length, and is borne on a peduneular 
part about as long; this part is strongly flattened, 7-15 mm. broad aecording to 
the size of the panicle, straight, slightly convex on one side, and flattish on the 
other, sharply two-edged, usually smooth on both surfaces, or exceptionally slightly 
prickly; its edges are armed with short, straight, solitary or sub-digitate spines ; 
primary and secondary spathes as in the male  spadix, deciduous; the main 
axis rigid, obsoletely angular; the internodes not swollen at the junctures, smooth 
surfaced; partial inflorescences callous at the axilla, 6-10 in number, besides 
2-3 in the terminal part, where they are reduced to single spikelets; the lowest 
partial inflorescences average from 25 to 30 cm. in length, and have 6-7 
spikelets on each side, but occasionally are much smaller, and have fewer spikelets ; 
the largest spikelets are 10-12 cm. long, and have 12-15 distichous flowers on 
each side; spathels thinly membranous, exsuccous, very finely  striately nerved, 
at first furfuraceous, later glabrous, infundibular, produced externally into a triangular 
acute point that subtends the flowers; involucrophorum immersed in its own spathel, 
spathaceous-auriculiform, acutely 2-keeled on the  posticous side; involucre 
immersed within the  involuerophorum, deeply asymmetrically cupular, being con. 
siderably more evolute on the side of the neuter flower than on the other; the areola 
of the neuter flower ovate, sharply defined by raised margins, which, like the 
keels of the involucrophorum, are fringed with ferrugineous, later deciduous, paleolae, 
Female flowers oblong 55-6 mm. long; the calyx shortly campanulate, slightly 
2-toothed; the teeth have a brush of ferruginous paleolae at their apex and are 
very soon split into 3 parts; the corolla is two and-a-half or nearly three times as 
long as the calyx, deeply parted into 3 lanceolate subacute segments; calyx and 
corolla very finely striately veined externally; stigmas linear, during the anthesis 
