— 32 - 



mm. long, as thick as a man's finger, straight, or a little curved, and produce 

 at both sides, often at almost right angles, the secondary and tertiary 

 branches, which spread freely forming a dense clump. The ultimate ramifi- 

 cations ("sessile tubers") are very numerous, and form two opposite rows 

 standing out at right angles; they are elliptic, acute, about an inch long. 



RuMPHius describes such a clump in this way: "The whole clump 

 seems to be composed of many half closed fists and childs hands, some of 

 which are placed in the earth obliquely, others transversally, consisting of rather 

 long articulations with few fibrils and glands, the latter existing only in 

 old stocks. So the whole stock, dug out and depurated from its skins 

 and fibrils and quite smooth, resembles a fine artificially and elegantly cut 

 out handiwork." 



The rootstocks are externally and internally orangé to miniate, the 

 young tips white (Cod. 126 — 160, the younger ones 136—131.). 



Pendulous tubers hanging at the top of very long (often 400 mm) 

 fibres are ellipsoid 40X20, internally of a watery grey colour with a 

 yellow inner cortex, the fibres often swollen near the base (5 mm thick) 

 and coloured like the tubers. 



Leaves oblong lanceolate, base obtuse or almost rounded in the primary 

 leaves, long attenuate in the younger ones; wholly green, long petioled. 

 Petiole thin rather abruptly broadened to the sheath of which the broad 

 membranous border is ciliate and somewhat puberous over a short dis- 

 tance, the sheath for the rest is smooth. The ligula consists of two semi- 

 lunar diverging lobes, (1 mm broad) contiguous in the middle of the sheath, 

 confluent at the outer side with its prominent border and forming a very 

 short ciliate rounded auricle at each side of the petiole base. 



The leaves are commonly rather small, in flowering plants rarely sur- 

 passing 500 mm. In one very large sterile form or variety from Modjokerto 

 (vern. name = "Kunir bentis" jav.) they measured from 450X90— 700X 100 (=■ 

 P 3-7.) the petioles 190-400. In the outer (first appearing leaves) they are 

 elliptic (P = 2.5) but the mean size is 300X70-80 (P = 3.2— 4.3, mean 

 P = 3.5). 



The inflorescence measures from 100-150X50-70, cylindrical. The 

 peduncule varying much in length bears commonly a reduced leaf-disk. 



There are often two or three vacuous bracts at the base of the spike, 

 of whieh the outer one is often placed at some distance; the two inner- 

 most are almost alike to the flowering bracts but often shorter and wider 

 (32X25). The bracts are all elliptic-lanceolate and acute, (mean length 

 50X25 — 27 to 60X24, those of the coma 60 — 75), all are adnate only 

 for Va — ^/s rarely to '/2 of their length, forming short pouches from which 

 the flowers in the middle of the spike are somewhat protruding, the free 

 parts are spreading and a little incurved, of a rather thin consistence, 



