Calamus usitatus Blanco

CALAMUS Linnaeus
CALAMUS USITATUS Blanco FI. Filip. (1837) 265 (sp. nov.); ed. 2 (1845)
1£5; ed. 3, 1 (1877) 330, t. 99 (C. mollis).
After a careful consideration of all the accumulated data
and material here, in connection with a study of Blanco’s descrip-;
tion, I am obliged to dissent from the cui^pntn iitt6rforetatioft
of this specks* It has been placed by Beccari and others as
a synonym of Daemonorops gaudicho/udii, but I interpret it as
the species described and figured by Beccari as Calamus mollis
(non Blanco!). It was reduced by Naves in part to Daemon<*.
orops -rumphii Mart., and in part to Calamus pisicairpus Blume,
neither of which occur in the Philippines. While Blanco’s de-
scription may have been based on a mixture of specimens, this
is entirely improvable. Beccari has interpreted Calamus usita-
tus to.be a Dxtemonorops chiefly, frp.m the calyx characters gif6h
by Blanco. I interpret if especially % the leaf characters given
by Blanco, its great abundance at vlow altitudes in the provinces
contiguous to Manila, its edible fruits; and the almost universal
and nearly exclusive use of the native name uay for this plant.
See the discussion of Daemonorops mollis, infra.
Illustrative specimen from Angat, Bulacan Province, Luzon,
December, 1914, there known as uay (Merritt: Species Blanco-
anae No. 682).
682# Calamus usitatus Blanco
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
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