Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany 



273 



and gradually broadens at its base into a short, very broad leaf-sheath, which in 

 the old and functionless leaves splits into two parts at the back. These leaves 

 do not apparently remain long hanging down below the crown. 



The spadix is apparently rather large and diffuse and is twice branched; 

 glabrous throughout and quite destitute of bracts at every branching. The branch 

 I have seen is 50 cm. long, it is divided into several alternate, spreading, filiform, 

 gradually subulate, very elongate, flower-bearing branchlets, and has the lower 

 portion of its axial part strongly flattened and 4-5 mm. broad ; the lower branch- 

 lets are 20-25 mm. long and 1.5-2 mm. thick at their bases, subterete, but con- 

 siderably wrinkled in the dry state; the upper gradually becoming shorter. The 

 spadix has a long peduncular part, about 60 cm. in one specimen, sheathed rather 

 tightly in a very thin, finely-striate marcescent spathe, which is split open laterally 

 above and terminates in a hair-like acuminate point. 



The flowers are horizontal, quite sessile, clustered in small linear series of 

 3-5 longitudinally around the branchlets ; the flowers in each group are placed 

 immediately one above the other and in contact; the lowest in each group is 

 usually female and the others are males; the elongate superficial scrobicules have 

 no bracts and are edged by a slightly elevated rim. 



The male flowers in full grown buds are broadly or very brieflv obovoid, 3 

 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, with a rounded top and flattish base ; the calyx is cupular, 

 truncate at the mouth ; the sepals are imbricate, quite free, thick and fleshy 

 especially at the base, with blackish margins. The corolla is nearly four times 

 as long as the calyx; petals concave, spreading during the anthesis, ovoid, obtuse, 

 strongly striately veined, rather thick and fleshy; stamens six, slightly shorter 

 than the petals ; filaments free from the base ; the anthers inserted about the 

 middle of the dorsum, are large, ovoid, and subcordate at the base; rudimentary 

 ovary conspicuous, elongate-conical, slightly shorter than the stamens, terminated 

 by three short blunt stigmas. 



Female flowers at the time that the buds of the males are fully developed, 

 are smaller than these, conical and more acute than the males ; when fully devel- 

 oped 3.5 mm. long; sepals small, fleshy, orbicular-reniform ; petals much larger 

 than the sepals, deltoid, bluntish, thickly fleshy; ovary broadly pyramidate- 

 trigonous ; stigmas obtuse ; ovules three, very minute, attached to the base at the 

 inner side of the cells. Staminodes very minute, short and thickish. The fruits 

 are obovoid, with a rounded top and taper somewhat towards a slightly as3Tnmet- 

 rical or bent base, where a little above the torus remain the relics of the small 

 conical stigmas. They (when dry) are 10-11 mm. long, by 7 mm. broad, and 

 have the pericarp contracted and wrinkled ; in the fresh state they certainly are 

 somewhat fleshy ; the pericarp has a thin resistant epicarp, a slightly pulp • 

 mesocarp quite devoid of fibers, and a very thin membranous hyalin endo- 

 carp. The seed is obovoid, rounded above, and narrows to an acute, almost pun- 

 gent, slightly bent base; its surface is dull and marked by few loosely anasta- 

 mosing vascular branches of the raphe; the embryo remains on the more convex 

 side of the seed, a little below the middle; the albumen is homogeneous, and of a 

 not very hard texture. 



