PHILIPPINE PALMS, I. 
233 
CALAMUS Linn. 
Calamus mollis Blanco var. palawanicus Becc. n. var. 
Gracilis subineramis, ocrea spinulosa. 
Stem , with the sheaths attached, 12-15 mm. in diameter. Leaf-slieatlis 
remaining green when dry, more or less longitudinally striate, spineless 
or with some scattered small, short and broad-based, sometimes retrorse 
prickles. Ocrea dry, reddish-brown, spinulous, or at least tubercled-spi- 
nulous. Leaflets more or less inequidistant, often approximate in parsi 
on each side of the raehis or almost equidistant, otherwise as in the typical 
form but the margins not so strongly spinulous. Spadix with smooth 
primary spathes. 
Palawan; No. 3613 77. M. Curran, January, 1906, in old clearings, locally 
quite common. (Male plant) and No. 191, 196 J. Bermejos (female plant) 
December, 1905. 
It differs from typical C. mollis Blanco of Luzon' in its leaf-sheaths being 
smooth or almost so, and in being less spinous in every part. It is scarcely 
distinguishable from C. Meyenianus Schauer in the ocrea being more or less 
spinulous and the leaflets having more strongly spinulous margins. C. Meyenianus 
itself is scarcely a distinct species, and had better be considered as a variety of 
C. mollis Blanco. 
Calamus Merrittianus Becc. n. sp. 
Scandens, amplissimus, caudice vaginato 6-7 cm. diametro. Folia 
amplissima, 3 m. et ultra longa ; vagina spisse lignosa, spinis gracilibus 
valde inaequalibus, 2—4 cm. longis, laminaribus, saepe laciniatis, solitariis 
vel confluentibus, inter perplurimas spinulas parvas setiformes immixtis 
densiuscule armata. Segmenta numerosissima, aequidistantis, auguste 
laneeolata vel ensiformia, supra in costa media et in costulis- duabus, 
subtus tantum in costa media, setosa. Spadices latissime paniculati, 
spathis primariis et secundariis spinis brevibus vel 10—12 mm. longis, 
nigrescentibus, rectis, horizontalibus vel deflexis, armati ; spicis foemineis 
7—8 cm. longis, crebre bifarie floriferis, parte pedicellari gracili, 2-2.5 
cm. longa in fundo spathae suae insertis. Fructus parvi, squamis per 
orthostichas 21 ordinatis in dorso convexis et non sulcatis, margine minute 
fimbriatis. 5 
Scandent and very large. Sheathed stem 6-7 cm. in diameter. Leaf- 
sheaths woody, 3—4 mm. thick, gibbous above, rather densely armed with 
“This species comes near C. Merrillii Becc., and belongs to Group XIV, which 
in my Monograph of the Genus Calamus in vol. 11 of the Armais of the Royal 
Botanic Garden, Calcutta, in press, is characterized as follows : “Leaves prolonged 
into a long and clawed cirrus. Leaf-sheaths not flagelliferous. Spadix not flag- 
elliferous at its apex, usually shorter than the leaves. Male s-padix ultra- 
decompound. Female spadix simply decompound, quite different from the male 
one. Male and female spikelets stalked or inserted inside at the base of their 
respective spathes on distinct pedicels which are as long as their respective 
spathes. Fruiting perianth explanate. Seed with ruminate or equable albumen.” 
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