650 CX. PAL1LE [Plectocomia 



Khasi hills. Stems 60-80 ft. long, as thick as the arm. L., including the flagellum, 

 30 ft. long, leaflets pale beneath, 8-16 by 2-3 in., stouter n. 3-5 on either side of 

 midrib, the underside of rachis armed with short digitate spines. Male spadix 

 branched from the base, branches 2-3 ft. long, drooping, bearing numerous spikelets, 

 enveloped by the oblong imbricating distichous spathels, 1J-2J in. long, which are 

 white with a green tip and a brown band across. Fr. 1 in. diam., scales smooth or 

 with ciliate margins. 3. P. macrostachya, Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 43, tt. 16, 17. 

 Vern. Kyeinhan, Burm. Bithoko range, between the Yunzalin and the Salween at 

 Great Bapids. (D. B. April 1859.) Probably not uncommon elsewhere in Lower 

 Burma. A lofty climber, internodes short, 1. 10, flagellum 2 ft. long, leaflets approxi- 

 mate in pairs or in threes, white farinose beneath, lanceolate, 8-24 bj r li— 3 in., midrib 

 and two longitudinal nerves close under the edge very stout, sheath and rachis with 

 straight slender spines up to i in. long, in groups of 2 or 3 or in half whorls, appendage 

 of scales stiff linear. Branches of male spadis 4-5 ft. long, pendulous, closely covered 

 with broadly obovate distichous imbricating spathels, brown with black border, in the 

 axils of which are the spikelets, shorter than bracts with alternate distichous fl. 

 Calyx very shortly 3-toothed, limb woolly or ciliate, petals rigid, lanceolate mucronate, 

 stamens 6. Fr. J-l in. diam. 



4. P. assamica, Griff. Assam. Leaflets white-furfuraceous beneath, 9-20 by 

 1§— 2 in., margins thickened, stouter longitud. n. numerous on either side of midrib, 

 but not very conspicuous, pet. stout, 1J in. broad, armed with clusters and oblique 

 lines of straight slender spines on a thick conical base. Branches of fruiting spadix 

 4—5 ft. long, rachis rusty-tomentose, spathels 2 J in. long. Fr. globose, 1 in. diam., 

 bright rusty-red, villous from the long-eiliate recurved points of the scales. 



9. D^EMONOROPS, Blume ; PI. Brit. Ind. vi. 462. 



Included under Calamus by Drude in Engler u. Prantl ii. 3, 52. 



Leaf rachis produced into a long flagellum. Spathes large, at first concave 



and completely enclosing the branches of spadix, the outer largest, deciduous, 



? fl. pedicelled. A red resin (Dragon's blood) exudes from the fruit of several 



species. Species 80, India, Malay Penins. and Archip. 



1. D. JenMnsianus, Mart. — Syn. Calamus nutantiflorus, Griff. Palms t. 208. .Vern. 

 Gola bent, Ass. Sikkim Terai, locally common. Assam. Khasi hills. Cachar 

 Tippera. Chittagong. Climbing, stem stout, 1. large, leaflets linear, equidistant, 

 20-30 by -|-J in., the midrib and the 2 stouter n. sparsely setose with long bristles. 

 Sheath armed with long, petiole rachis and flagellum with short spines. Fl. densely 

 crowded on the branches of the much ramified unisexual spadix, spathes flat, lanceo- 

 late, coriaceous, the outer 1-2 ft., densely armed with spines J-f in. long, the inner 

 unarmed. Fl. single, on the bends of a flexuose rachis, £ £ in. long, sessile, calyx 

 campanulate, elegantly ribbed, ciliate along the edge, chiefly near the teeth, base of 

 filaments connate with the 3-toothed pistillode into a fleshy mass, 9 pedicelled, sup- 

 ported by an acuminate bract, pedicel enclosed in 3 tubular, overlapping sheaths, 

 calyx campanulate nearly truncate, petals narrow. Fr. § in. diam., brown, scales 

 trapezoid, deeply channelled. 2. D. Manii, Becc. Andamans. L. light yellow -green, 

 12, flagellum 3 ft. long, leaflets narrow. Fr. pedicel J in. long, scales slightly chan- 

 nelled. 3. D. Kurzianus, Hook. f. — Syn. Calamus grandis, Kurz (non Griff.). Anda- 

 mans. A lofty climber, the sheathed stems as thick as the arm, the canes up to 1 in. 

 diam., " sheaths and (outer) spathe fearfully armed with whorls of broad sharp spines 

 about an inch long " (Kurz). L. 4-6, leaflets 1-2 ft. long, linear, equidistant, rachis 

 stout, angular, 1J in. broad. Fr. f in. diam., pale brown, scales slightly channelled, 

 calyx and petals explanate. 



Plectoeomiopsis paradoxus, Becc. — Syn. Calamus paradoxus, Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. 

 Beng. 43. tt. 29, 30. Thaukyeghat forests, Toungoo. An extensive glabrous climber, 

 the sheathed stems 1-2 in. diam. L. 5-7 ft. long, terminating in a flagellum with 

 hooked thorns, the sheaths armed with sharp flat spines in half whorls, petiole and 

 rachis with stout recurved thorns, often connate in claws. The upper 1. reduced to 

 sheaths with long flagella and no leaflets. Leaflets thin, inequidistant, 12-18 by 

 1-li in., stouter longitudinal n. 4-6 on either side of midrib. Male spadix decom- 

 pound, ample, drooping, spathes and spathels tubular, limb truncate, shortly 

 acuminate, spikelets J-J in. long, few-fid. Calyx striate, deeply 3-cleft, petals rigid, 

 J in. long, stamens 6. 



10. CALAMUS, Linn.; PL Brit. Ind. vi. 436. 



Armed, rarely erect, usually climbing by whip-like thorny prolongations 

 (flagella) of the rachis, of the spadix, or of the leaf-sheath, stem simple, in 



