Rhapis gracilis Burret 1930

3. Rhapis gracilis Burret (1930: 883). Lectotype (here designated):— CHINA. Prov. Kwangtung: Win Foo, 180 m, 3 October 1928, S. Sin 5338 (lectotype IBSC!)(the holotype at B was destroyed)

Stems length and diameter not recorded. Leaf ligules scarcely developed; petioles 11.5(10.5–12.5) cm long, 1.7(1.3– 2.0) mm wide at the apex; abaxial hastula usually complete, a low ridge separating petiole apex from costa; segments 3(2–4) per leaf; central segments elliptic, usually multi-veined, acuminate, the apices oblique, toothed, 15.2(13.8– 16.5) cm long, 2.8(2.5–3.0) cm wide at midpoint, free almost to the base, the non-split basal part 0.2 cm; lateral segments 15.5(14.0–17.0) cm long, 2.1(1.7–2.4) cm wide at midpoint, the non-split basal part 0.2 cm; abaxial surface of segments with minute, brown scales, not indumentose when first exposed. Inflorescences slender, few branched, with the first branch not as large as the rest of the inflorescence; prophyll and peduncular bract narrow, tubular, not or scarcely overlapping, the inflorescences exerted apically through the bracts on a curved peduncle; rachis 3.7 cm long; rachillae filiform, usually tomentose, especially the staminate ones; proximal rachilla 2.6 cm long, 0.5 mm wide; staminate and pistillate flowers sessile; staminate and pistillate corollas with poorly developed, inturned apical lobes, these not swollen internally; filaments not recorded; fruits globose, color not recorded, 8.2 mm long, 8.2 mm diameter, borne on a pedicelliform pistillate corolla.

Distribution and habitat:— China (Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan)(Fig. 2) in lowland forest at 540(180–900) m elevation.

Taxonomic notes:— The type locality of Rhapis gracilis is here taken to be Yunfu, Guangdong, China, whose geographical coordinates are 22° 56’N, 112° 2’E. Hastings (2003) identified a specimen (El Colani s.n. from P) from Laos as R. gracilis, but it is here included in Rhapis subtilis.