Amazon. It first occurs near Villa Nova, about five hundred miles up the
river, where the tidal rise and fall of the water ceases and the annual
floods rise to a considerable height. From this point upwards it is very
abundant, growing everywhere on the margins of the rivers, in places
which are for six or eight months in the year under water. It is never
found beyond the limits of the floods, and in travelling up the Rio
Negro it is for hundreds of miles the only species of _Astrocaryum_ met
with.
[Illustration:
Pl. XLIII.
W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp.
ASTROCARYUM ACULEATUM Ht. 20 Ft.
]
PLATE XLIII.
ASTROCARYUM ACULEATUM? _Meyer._
Marayá, _Lingoa Geral_.
This small species has the stem from fifteen to twenty feet high and
about two inches in diameter, with obscure rings of spines at irregular
intervals. The leaves are terminal, rather large and regularly pinnate.
The leaflets are narrow, rigid and scarcely drooping, with the terminal
pair broader. The midrib and leaflets are smooth, but the bases and
sheaths of the petioles are very prickly.
The spadices grow from below the leaves and are very small and simply
branched. The spathes are small, ovate, swollen, erect, persistent and
very prickly. The trees were not found in fruit.
This tree agrees pretty well with Dr. Martius’ description of _A.
aculeatum_. It grows in the virgin forest of the Upper Rio Negro.
[Illustration:
Pl. XLIV.
W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp.
ASTROCARYUM ACAULE Ht. 9 Ft.
]
PLATE XLIV.
ASTROCARYUM ACAULE, _Martius_.
Iú, _Lingoa Geral_.
This palm never has any stem, the leaves springing at once from the
ground. They are eight or ten feet long, slender and pinnate. The
leaflets are very narrow and drooping, and are disposed in groups of
three or four, at intervals along the midrib, the separate leaflets
standing out in different directions. The whole plant is exceedingly
spiny, the midrib and petioles having long, flat, black spines directed
downwards, and the leaflets are also spiny beneath.
The spadix grows from among the leaves on a long stalk and is simply
branched. The spathe is elongate and fusiform, at first erect, but
gradually bends over at the end, forming a hood over the fruit, and is
densely clothed with spines. The fruit is oval with a produced apex, of
a pale yellow colour, and has a thin layer of firm pulp which is
sometimes eaten, but is not very agreeable.
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.
[Illustration:
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.
[Illustration:
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.
The stems of these magnificent Palms are tall, erect and smooth. The
leaves are very large and irregularly pinnate. The bases of the petioles
are persistent, often covering the stem quite down to the ground. The
spathe is woody, complete, longitudinally cut and beaked. The spadices
grow from among the lower leaves and are simply branched, but very
densely clustered with the fruit, which is ovate, and has a dry external
covering.
Only three species of this genus are known, all very handsome plants.
One is a native of the West India Islands, one of Brazil, and a third is
common in the Amazon district.
[Illustration:
Pl. XLVII.
W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp.
MAXIMILIANA REGIA Ht. 80 Ft.
]
PLATE XLVII.
MAXIMILIANA REGIA, _Martius_.
Inajá, _Lingoa Geral_.
This palm has a lofty massive stem, smooth and obscurely ringed. The
leaves are very large, terminal and pinnate. The leaflets are arranged
in groups of three, four or five, at intervals along the midrib, from
which they stand out in different directions, and are very long and
drooping. The bases of the petioles are persistent a short distance down
the stem, and sometimes down to the ground, even when the trees are
forty or fifty feet high.
The spadices are numerous, growing from the bases of the lower leaves.
They are simply branched and very densely clustered. The spathes are
large, spindle-shaped, ventricose and woody, with a long beak. The
fruits are elongate and beaked, with a tough, brown, outer skin, beneath
which is a layer of soft fleshy pulp of an agreeable subacid flavour,
covering a hard stony seed.
The leaves of this tree are truly gigantic. I have measured specimens
which have been cut by the Indians fifty feet long, and these did not
contain the entire petiole, nor were they of the largest size. Owing,
however, to the loose irregular distribution of the leaflets, they do
not produce such an effect of great size as those of the Jupati, which
are more regular. The great woody spathes are used by hunters to cook
meat in, as with water in them they stand the fire well. They are also
used as baskets for carrying earth, and sometimes for cradles. The
fruits are often eaten by the Indians, and are particularly attractive
to monkeys and to some fruit-eating birds.
This magnificent palm is abundant from Pará to the Upper Amazon and the
sources of the Rio Negro. It grows only in the dry virgin forest.
Young trees are growing in the Palm House at Kew, and fruit clusters and
spathes are preserved in the Museum.
Plate III. fig. 3. is a view of the spathe, and fig. 2. represents a
fruit, the natural size.
Genus COCOS, _Linnæus_.
Female flowers less plentiful than the males, and situated below them in
the same spadix. Spathe double, outer small, interior woody. Flowers
with bracts. Male flowers with six stamens and a rudimentary pistil.
Female flowers with three stigmas.
The stems of this genus are lofty, generally cylindrical and smooth. The
leaves are large and regularly pinnate. The spadix is simply branched,
and the fruit is ovate oblong, and with an outer fibrous covering.
Eighteen species of _Cocos_ are known, seventeen being natives of South
America, principally of Brazil, while one only, the well-known
Cocoa-nut, is a native of the Old World, though it is now universally
cultivated in every part of the tropics. Few species of the genus are
found in the Amazon district. They appear to prefer drier and more
elevated countries, some of them reaching an altitude of near 8000 feet
above the sea.
[Illustration:
Pl. XLVIII.
W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp.
COCOS NUCIFERA. Ht. 60 Ft.
]
PLATE XLVIII.
COCOS NUCIFERA, _Linnæus_.
Coqueiro, _Portuguese_.
The Cocoa-nut.
The stem of this well-known palm is very smooth, seldom quite erect, and
often much thicker at the bottom. The leaves are large, terminal and
regularly pinnate. The leaflets are rigid, and spread out very flat on
each side of the midrib. From the sheathing bases of the petioles grows
a compact fibrous material resembling in texture the spathe of the
Bussú.
The spadices are produced from among the leaves, and are large and
simply branched. The fruits are very large, and have a dense fibrous
external covering over the well-known cocoa-nut.
This tree is not a native of South America, but as it is generally
cultivated in every part of the tropics, I have given a figure of it.
Its peculiar characteristic is the rigidity of its leaves, which curve
or droop very slightly, and the leaflets spread out with remarkable
flatness and regularity. The stem also is rather massive in accordance
with the immense weight of fruit which it produces, and the whole tree,
though exceedingly handsome, has not that light and feathery appearance
which it is often represented as possessing. It is not impossible,
however, that it may have acquired by its naturalization in America an
aspect differing somewhat from its characteristic features when growing
on the sea-shore, on the coral islands of India and the Pacific.
There it is of the greatest utility to man. It supplies food and drink
and oil. Its fibres are woven into cordage and matting, and it even
furnishes animal as well as vegetable food, herds of swine being fed and
fattened entirely on its fruit.
On the banks of the Amazon, on the contrary, we see at once that it is
in a foreign land. It flourishes indeed with great luxuriance, but no
part of it is applied to any useful purpose, the fruit only being
consumed as an occasional luxury. In the towns and larger villages where
the Portuguese have settled it has been planted, but among the Indians
of the interior it is still quite unknown.
LIST OF THE PALMS DESCRIBED IN THIS WORK, WITH THEIR NATIVE NAMES AND
USES.
_Botanical Name._ _Native Name._ _Uses._
Leopoldinia
pulchra Jará Stem used for fencing, rafters,
&c.
major Jará assú Fruit for making salt.
piassaba Piassába Fibre for cordage, brooms, &c.;
leaves for thatching; fruit
eatable.
Euterpe
oleracea Assaí Fruit for making a drink; stem for
rafters, &c.
catinga Assaí de Catinga Fruit for making a drink.
Œnocarpus
baccaba Baccába Fruit makes a drink and oil;
leaves for thatching.
batawá Patawá Fruit makes a drink; spinous
processes used for making
arrows.
disticha Baccába Leaves for thatching.
minor Baccába miri Fruit makes a drink.
Iriartea
exorhiza Pashiúba Stem split for floors and
ceilings, &c.; air-roots for
graters.
ventricosa Pashiúba Stem split for lances, harpoons,
barriguda floors, &c.; swollen part of
stem for canoes.
setigera Pashiúba miri Stem hollowed for making blowtubes
or Gravatánas.
Raphia
tædigera Jupatí Leaf-stalks split for making
boxes, partitioning houses,
doors, &c.
Mauritia
flexuosa Mirití Fruit makes a drink; fibres of
twisted into string for
hammocks, &c.; leaf-stalks as
the last.
aculeata Caranaí Fruit makes a drink.
gracilis Caranaí Fruit makes a drink.
pumila Caranaí Not known.
caraná Caraná Leaves good for thatch;
leaf-stalks used as those of
_Raphia tædigera_.
Lepidocaryum
tenue Caranaí do Mato None.
Geonoma
multiflora Ubimrána These species and others allied
all have the leaves more or less
used for thatching.
paniculigera Ubim de Cotiwiya
rectifolia Ubimrána
Manicaria
saccifera Bussú Leaves the best for thatching;
spathe for caps, wrappers &c.
Desmoncus
macroacanthus Jacitára Bark makes “tipitis” or elastic
cylinders for squeezing the
grated mandiocca.
Bactris
pectinata Iú These little prickly palms seem
not to be applied to any
particular uses.
n.s. Marayarána
elatior Marayarána
n.s. Unknown
macrocarpa Iú
tenuis Iú
simplicifrons Iú
maraja Marajá Fruit eatable.
integrifolia Iú None.
Guilielma
speciosa Pupúnha Fruit very good and nutritious;
wood very hard, black and
durable.
Acrocomia
lasiospatha Mucujá Fruit eatable.
Astrocaryum
murumurú Murumurú Cattle eat fruit.
gynacanthum Mumbáca None.
vulgare Tucúm Leaf-fibres for cordage.
tucumá Tucumá Fruit eatable.
jauarí Jauarí Nuts for lace-bobbin heads.
aculeatum Marayá None. Others with the same name
have eatable fruit.
acaule Iú Bark of leaf-stalks for baskets.
humile Iú Fruit eatable.
Attalea
speciosa Uauassú Leaves for thatch.
excelsa Urucurí Fruit burnt for smoking rubber.
spectabilis Curúa Leaves for thatch.
Maximiliana
regia Inajá Fruit eatable.
Cocos
nucifera Coqueiro The Cocoa-nut; fruit eatable.
The genera of Palms found in America are thirty-six in number.
Thirty-two of these are entirely confined to it, while only four are
common to the Old and New Worlds, as shown in the following list:—
LIST OF THE AMERICAN GENERA OF PALMS.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Name of Genus. No. of species Species found in Species of
mentioned in this America. American Genera
Work. in the Old World.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Chamedorea 0 23 0
Hyospathe 0 1 0
Morenia 0 2 0
Kunthia 0 1 0
Leopoldinia 3 4 0
Euterpe 3 12 0
Œnocarpus 4 6 0
Oreodoxia 0 6 0
Reinhardtia 0 1 0
Iriartea 4 9 0
Ceroxylon 0 3 0
Raphia 1 1 2
Mauritia 7 8 0
Lepidocaryum 1 2 0
Geonoma 3 33 0
Manicaria 1 1 0
Copernicia 0 6 0
Brahea 0 2 0
Sabal 0 9 0
Trithrinax 0 2 0
Chamærops 0 2 6
Thrinax 0 8 0
Desmoncus 1 14 0
Bactris 9 46 0
Guilielma 1 3 0
Martinezia 0 4 0
Acrocomia 1 8 0
Astrocaryum 8 17 0
Elœis 0 1 1
Attalea 3 16 0
Maximiliana 1 3 0
Orbignia 0 3 0
Syagrus 0 5 0
Diplothemium 0 5 0
Jubæa 0 1 0
Cocos 1 17 1
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Totals 52 285 10
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in
spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.