236 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XIV, July I960 
throughout; endocarp slightly above the middle, 
bony, massive, dark mahogany brown, the lateral 
margins 4-7 mm. thick; seeds 12-14 mm. long, 
4—5 mm. in diameter, ellipsoid; apical mesocarp 
with one large cavern with pithy pale mem- 
branes and traversed by strong fibers; lower 
mesocarp fibrous and fleshy. 
HOLOTYPUS: Australia, Queensland, Leo 
Creek, Upper Nesbit River, Cape York Penin- 
sula, frequent and more or less gregarious, in 
rain forest, 420 m. alt., Aug. 16, 1948, L. ]. Brass 
19,866 (Brisbane). 
DISCUSSION: P. conicus is allocated to a new 
section. It is related to P. cochleatus St. John, 
here described. A statement of the contrasting 
differences is to be found in the treatment of 
that species. 
The new specific epithet is from the Latin 
conicus, conical, in allusion to the shape of the 
projecting carpel tips. The sectional name is 
coined from Australia, plus Brass, the name of 
the collector, in tribute to the numerous and 
excellent collections of Pandanus and other gen- 
era that he has made. 
In describing the lobed tips of phalanges 
composed of several partly united carpels, it is 
important to describe intelligibly the kind of 
lobing. Too many species have been described 
with phrases like, shallowly lobed, deeply lobed, 
with narrow sinuses, or with shallow sinuses, 
though all of these are almost meaningless. A 
complication is that often the sinuses gradually 
deepen as they approach the outer edges of the 
summit of the phalange. For use in this revi- 
sion, the writer had adopted the method of 
measuring the depth of the apical central sinuses. 
The distance is measured from the bottom of 
the sinus up to a horizontal line even with the 
bottom of the stigma of the nearest carpel. A 
measurement could be taken to the top of the 
stigma, and this would also be usable. However, 
the stigmas are the softest part of a dried pha- 
lange, are exposed, and in a large per cent of 
the museum specimens are more or less eroded. 
Hence the measurement to the base is preferred. 
This measurement has been tested on scores of 
species and found to provide a character and 
one usually of diagnostic value. 
Pandanus cochleatus sp. nov. 
Fig. 7 
DIAGNOSIS HOLOTYPI: Arbor 4-5 m. alta laxe 
ramosa, radicibus aereis nullis, foliis 1-1.2 m. 
longis 3.2 cm. latis subcoriaceis ligulatis nervis 
secundariis fortibus nullis paene in apice subu- 
lato diminuentibus supra perglaucis infra ad 
basim perglaucis in base integris sed ad 10 cm. 
ex base dentibus 1.3-2 mm. longis 2-6 mm. dis- 
tantibus subulatis stramineis sed in apice brun- 
neis, midnervio inerme, in sectio mediali mar- 
ginibus cum dentibus 0.5-1 mm. longis 1-2.5 
mm. distantibus subulatis adscendenti-adpressis 
turn midnervio cum dentibus simulantibus 0.3- 
0.5 mm. longis 2.5-8 mm. distantibus, ad api- 
cem marginibus cum serris 0.3-0 .4 mm. longis 
1-2 mm. distantibus adscendentibus sed in mid- 
nervio serris 2-8 mm. distantibus, syncarpiis ca. 
13X11 cm. solitariis pendentibus ovoideo-glob- 
osis, phalangiis multis 43-4.5 cm. longis 33-4.2 
cm. latis 2.4-33 cm. crassis (sed in phalangio 
duplicato 4.1 X 5.7 X 33 cm.) pyriformibus 
compressis apice truncate dimidio tarn lato quam 
phalangio 4-6-angulosis suturis lateralibus nullis 
lateribus laevibus curvatis in sicco pallide brun- 
neis sublucidis parte 3/5 supera libera, carpellis 
12-16 (28 in duplicato) apicibus 4.5-7 mm. 
longis in summo phalangis truncato centrale 
aggregatis anguste compresso-pyramidalibus eis 
marginalis arcuatis incurvatis acute angulosis eis 
centralibus symmetricis et plerumque angustiori- 
bus, sinibus apicalis centralibus 4-6 mm. pro- 
fundis, stigmatibus 1-1.5 mm. longis centri- 
FlG. 5. Pandanus biakensis, holotype, lateral view of 
syncarp. 
