毛鳞省藤 mao lin sheng teng

Calamus hoplites Dunn; C. scutellaris Beccari; C. thysanolepis var. polylepis C. F. Wei; Palmijuncus thysanolepis (Hance) Kuntze.

Stems clustered, non-climbing, short and subterranean or free standing, to 5 m, to 5 cm in diam. Leaf sheaths greenish brown with brown hairs, with densely arranged, black, needlelike spines to 2 cm; ocreas to 40 cm, spiny, fibrous and soon disintegrating; knees absent; flagella absent; rachis to 1.5 m with 28-49 lanceolate pinnae per side, these strongly clustered and spreading in different planes; middle pinnae 30-37 cm, 1.5-2 cm wide at mid-point, adaxial veins and margins bristly; cirri absent. Inflorescences to 1 m, erect, not flagellate; inflorescence bracts split open and tattering. Fruits reddish brown, ovoid or ellipsoid, to 1.5 × 1 cm.

Lowland rain forests; below 800 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang [Vietnam].

The fruits are eaten.