Part 22

The rind of the leaf-stalks of this palm is used by the Indians for making baskets. It grows in the dry Catinga forests of the Upper Rio Negro, often covering large tracts of ground. It has altogether a rather repulsive and inelegant appearance.

A fruit is shown on the Plate of the natural size, and a spadix reduced showing the spathe bent over it.

Pl. XLV.

W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp.

ASTROCARYUM HUMILE. Ht. 9 Ft. ]

PLATE XLV. ASTROCARYUM HUMILE, n. sp.

Iú, Lingoa Geral.

This species has a stem two or three feet high, or is altogether stemless like the last. The leaves are six or eight feet long, slender and pinnate. The leaflets are much broader than in A. acaule, similarly disposed in spreading groups, but not so much drooping. The midribs and petioles are armed with long, slender, cylindrical spines pointing in various directions.

The spadices grow from among the leaves and are erect and simply branched. The spathes are erect or somewhat curved over the fruit, and clothed with thickly set bristly spines. The fruit is globular, covered with scattered stiff hairs, and of an orange-red colour. It is not eatable.

This species is not uncommon in the same situations as the last. The specimen with a stem was growing in a moister part of the forest. It seems to be an undescribed species.

The stemless and short-stemmed state of this plant are shown on the Plate, and a fruit is represented of the natural size.

Genus ATTALEA, Humboldt.

Flowers bracteate, male and female in the same spadix, and male in another spadix, on the same or on a different tree. Spathes double, the interior one complete and woody. Male flowers with from six to twenty-four stamens and a small rudimentary pistil. Female flowers with a short style and three stigmas, and a cup-shaped ring of rudimentary stamens.

The stems of these palms are generally lofty, cylindrical and smooth, but there are some stemless species. The leaves of all are very handsome, large and regularly pinnate; the petioles have the margins of the sheathing bases often more or less fibrous. The spadix grows from among the lower leaves, and is simply branched; and the fruit is ovate or oblong, and has a dry fibrous outer covering.

Sixteen species of these beautiful Palms are known, inhabiting various parts of South America, from the level of the sea to a height of 4000 feet above it. Their smooth and regularly pinnate leaves render them very suitable for thatching. One species, the A. funifera, produces a fibre very similar to that of the Leopoldinia piassaba, and the stony seeds from the same tree supply a kind of vegetable ivory.

Pl. XLVI.

W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp.

ATTALEA SPECIOSA Ht. 60 Ft. ]

PLATE XLVI. ATTALEA SPECIOSA, Martius.

Uauassú, Lingoa Geral.

This noble palm has the stem fifty or sixty feet high, straight, cylindrical and nearly smooth. The leaves are very large, terminal and regularly pinnate. The leaflets are elongate, rigid, closely set together, and spreading out flat on each side of the midrib. The sheathing bases of the petioles are persistent for a greater or less distance down the stem, and in young trees down to the ground, as in the Œnocarpus batawá.

The spadices grow from among the leaves and are large and simply branched. The fruit is of large size compared with most American palms, being about three inches long, and from this circumstance it derives its native name “Uauassú,” signifying “large fruit.”

The foliage of this tree is very extensively used for thatching. The young plants produce very large leaves before the stem is formed, and it is in this state that they are generally used. The unopened leaves from the centre are preferred, as, though they require some preparation, they produce a more uniform thatch. The leaf is shaken till it falls partially open, and then each leaflet is torn at the base so as to remain hanging by its midrib only, which is however quite sufficient to secure it firmly. They thus hang all at right angles to the midrib of the leaf, which admits of their being laid in a very regular manner on the rafters. They are generally known as “palha branca” or “white thatch,” from the pale yellow colour of the unopened leaves, and are considered the best covering for houses in places where Bussú cannot be obtained.

This species grows on the dry forest lands of the Upper Amazon. On the Rio Negro a stemless species called “Curuá” (Attalea spectabilis) is found and is often used for thatching. On the Lower Amazon and in the neighbourhood of Pará the Attalea excelsa is not uncommon. It is a handsome lofty species which grows on lands flooded at high tides, and is called by the natives Urucurí. The fruit of this tree is burnt, and the smoke is used to black the newly made india-rubber. Martius says that the fruit of the A. speciosa is used for this purpose, but that species is not found in the principal rubber districts, while the A. excelsa is abundant there.

Several species of Attalea are cultivated in the Palm House at Kew.

Plate III. fig. 1. is a fruit of Attalea spectabilis of the natural size.

Genus MAXIMILIANA, Martius.

Some spadices with only male flowers, others with . male and female flowers on the same tree. Spathes large, complete, woody. Flowers with bracts. Male flowers with three or six stamens, and with a minute rudimentary pistil. Female flowers with a short style and three stigmas, and rudimentary stamens forming a membranaceous cup.