Calamus tenuis Roxb.

Mehmud, Selim & Roy, Himu, 2021, Diversity and distribution of palms (Arecaceae) in Assam, India, Check List 17 (1), pp. 69-93 : 80

Calamus tenuis Roxb.

Figure 6C

Diagnostic characters. Stems clustered, climbing, 9–20 m long and with leaf sheath ca 2 cm in diameter; leaf sheath green, spines 1.5–2.5 cm long; indumentums white; flagella 1–1.1 m long. Knee 2.8–3 cm long, spiny; ocrea 5–6 mm long, unarmed. Leaf pinnate, ecirriate, 1–1.2 m long; leaflets regular, linear-lanceolate, serrated, acuminate, 30–34 in number, 29–31 cm long, 2–2.6 cm wide, equidistant, veins 3. Staminate inflorescence 2.5–3 m long, flagellate; partial inflorescences 6–9 in number, 10–22 cm long; rachillae alternate, 3–5 cm long. Pistil- late inflorescence 2.5 m long; partial inflorescences 10– 13 cm long; rachillae alternate, 2–3 cm long with dyad flowers. Fruit ovate to spherical, ca 1.1 cm long, perianth tubular, scales in 15 vertical rows.

Flowering and fruiting. July to September and December to March, respectively.

Distribution. Throughout Assam; prefers waterlogged plains.

Vernacular names. Jati Bet, Pani Bet (Assamese).

Uses. For furniture (cane), masticator (fruit) food (apical stem).

Material examined. INDIA • 1 ♂; Assam, North Lakh- impur; Jan. 1940; no. 19010; ASSAM 30943 . • Assam, Barpeta, Pathsala ; 26°30′24″N, 091°14′38″E; 18 Feb. 2018; S. Mehmud leg. ; CH, ASSAM 96233 .