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<div type="description"><p>Moderately robust, solitary rattan climbing to 30 m. Stem with sheaths 20 - 40 mm diam., without sheaths to 9 - 15 mm diam.; internodes 12 - 28 cm. Leaf ecirrate, to 2 m long including petiole; sheath green, drying pale greenish brown, usually with sparse to very dense, dull brown, caducous indument; spines persistent, rather sparse and mostly of uniform size and form, (5)12 - 25 x 2 - 4 mm, rigid, laminar, black, drying grey, scattered or arranged in horizontal groups, pointing horizontally or upwards, spines around leaf sheath mouth similar or sometimes much longer, to 60 mm long; knee conspicuous, only slightly swollen, to 80 x 10 mm, green, unarmed; ocrea 15 x 2 cm, tubular at first, splitting to form two auricles with rounded triangular tips, these then disintegrating to form a tangle of slender pale to mid-brown fibres at the sheath mouth, the ocrea unarmed or with a few spines near the sheath mouth; flagellum present, 2.5 - 3 m long; petiole 7 - 12 cm long, 13 - 14 mm wide, 6.5 mm thick at the base, adaxially flattened or shallowly channelled, abaxially rounded, with sparse to dense caducous brown indument, and very few rigid persistent triangular spines to 5 mm long along the margins, otherwise unarmed; rachis to 150 cm long, armed with solitary or grouped recurved hooks abaxially, glabrous or with sparse to dense brown caducous indument; leaflets c. 60 on each side of rachis, regularly arranged, concolorous, lanceolate, longest leaflet in mid-leaf 38 - 46 x 2.3 - 2.4 cm, apical leaflets 8 - 12 x 0.4 - 0.9 cm, apical leaflet pair united to 1/10 their length, leaflets armed with dark bristles 3 - 4 mm long along 5 veins adaxially and with slightly shorter bristles along mid-vein abaxially, margins minutely bristly and strongly inrolled at the very insertion, transverse veinlets conspicuous. Staminate inflorescence unknown. Staminate flowers unknown. Pistillate inflorescence 4.5 - 8.2 m long, including peduncle to 3.9 m long, branching to 2 orders; prophyll not seen; rachis bracts closely sheathing, armed with robust recurved hooks in grapnel-like groups; primary branches 5 - 7, to 50 cm long, each bearing 6 - 8 rachillae, subtending bracts unarmed, or sparsely armed with short triangular recurved spines to 1 mm long; rachillae in fruit 15 - 30 x 0.3 - 0.5 cm, probably pendulous; rachilla bracts very conspicuous, 8 x 5 mm, distichous, unarmed or with a single or pair of very short dark-tipped spines to 0.5 mm, the bract tips triangular but eroding and becoming truncate and expanded, covered in sparse to dense irregular dark brown scales; proximal floral bracteole cup-shaped, 1.5 x 4 mm, distal floral bracteole cup-shaped, 1.5 x 3 mm, scar from sterile staminate c. 1 mm diam. Pistillate flowers borne in pairs together with a sterile staminate flower to form a triad; pistillate flowers in bud or anthesis; fruiting perianth with calyx to 3 mm long, tubular in basal 1 mm, the 3 free sepals split in 2 as the fruit develops, giving 6 lobes; corolla with 3 lobes 3.5 x 2 mm, each split in 2; staminodal ring split into 6 lobes to 1.5 x 1 mm, together with the calyx and corolla spread-out star-like at the fruit base. Sterile staminate flowers not seen. Fruit ovoid to ellipsoid, 14 - 16.5 x 9.5 - 12.5 mm, including beak 1.5 x 1.5 mm, with 18 - 20 longitudinal rows of dull pale brown, channelled scales with darker intramarginal lines. Seed 11 x 9 x 7 mm, ellipsoid, with a deep lateral chalazal pit, the surface covered in shallow scalloped depressions; endosperm homogeneous; embryo basal.
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<div type="materials_examined"><p>PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Central: Port Moresby, Vanapa R., Oct. 1969, Zieck 36231 (L); Mariboi Plantation, April 1973, Zieck and Gore NGF36549 (LAE). Milne Bay: Alotave, Aug. 1979, Kairo 109 (A, BFC, K, L, LAE, USF); Peria Creek, Kwagira R., Aug. 1953 Brass 24209 (holotype L; isotypes A, LAE).</p></div>
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