1116

 Donax canniformis (G.Forst.) K.Schum.

Synonym	:	Actoplanes canniformis (G.Forst.) K.Schum.
Family	:	Marantaceae
Flowering and fruiting period	:	October to January
Distribution	:	India, Myanmar, Indo-China, SE China, Malaya, Borneo, Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea throughout the Pacific islands to Vanuatu. In India it is common in North Andaman, Camorta Island, Katchall Island, Great Nicobar
Key botanical characters:   Branched rhizomatous shrub like herb, rhizome sympodially branched. Stem 3–5 m tall, branched, with basal cane-like internode, 0.4–1.5 m long. Leaf sheath 4.5–18 cm long, petiole 5–10 cm long, green, thickened in to a cylindric pulvinous, c. 1 cm long, light green, slightly pubescent. Lamina broadly ovate to elliptic, 10–24 × 6–12 cm, adaxially dark green, abaxially pale green,  villous along midvein, base round to obtuse, apex acuminate, margins entire. Inflorescence several on each plant, richly branched, lax, 15–30 cm long, slender, sparsely paniculate. Bracts 9–11, obovate to lanceolate, c. 2.7 cm long green or dark green, hairy, tough, margin transparent, deciduous after anthesis. Prophyll bicarinate, 2–4 cm long, just above the base of the bract. Flowers white, 2.3–2.4 cm long.  Fruit dark green, globose and smooth, c. 1 cm in diameter, indehiscent; one seeded, c. 0.6–0.8 cm, brown, irregularly ridged; aril not prominent.