Plectocomia (plektokomia)

[NL. (Martius and Blume, 1830), so called in allusion to the slender filaments; secondary spathes, each inclosing a short spike 3 inches or le long, bearing coriaceous perianths. The 6 spe cies are natives of mountains in eastern India and the Malayan archipelago. They are climbing palms, with slender or robust, very much prolonged stems. The one seeded fleshy fruits are densely covered with overlapping rough-fringed, almost prickly scales. The are pinnate, with narrowly elliptical segments, and the midrib extended into long whip-like tails, covered be neath with exceedingly strong compound claw-like spines, which take firm hold of branches of trees, and support the climbing stem, which in P. elongata, the rotang-dahown of Indian jungles, is said to extend to a length of 500 feet. plectognath (plek'tog-nath), a. and n. Ι. a. Pertaining to the Plectognath i , or having their characters. Also plectognathic , plectognathous. II. n. A member of the Plectognath i . Plectognath i (plek-tog'na-thi), n. pl . [NL., πλεκτός , plaited, twisted, + γνάθος , jaw.] An order of physoclistous fishes, with the cranium normal, the premaxillaries usually coö ified behind with the maxillaries, the dentary coö ified with the articular and angular bones, and the lower pharyngeals distinct: so called from the extensive ankyloses of the jaws. The order includes the porcupine-fishes, swell-fishes, box-fishes, globe-fishes, egg-fishes, file-fishes, and related forms, as of the families Triacanthidæ , Balistidæ , Triodontidæ , Os traciontidæ , Tetrodontidæ , Diodontidæ , and Molidæ . plectognathic (plek-tog-nath'ik), a . [ plectog nath +-ic.] Same as plectognath . plectognathous (plek-tog'na-thus), a . [ plec tognath + -ous.] Same as plectognath . Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ii. 1379. plecolepidous (plek-ō-lep'i-dus), a. [ κειν , twine, twist, + λεπίς (λεπιδ-), a scale: see Plectoptera (plek-top'te-rä), n. pl . [NL., lep is.] In bot., having the bracts coherent that form the involucre in the order Compos itæ.