124} DB. B. SPBTJCE OX \Morenia, 



glaberrimi, albi ; rami 20 etplures patuli 2-3-pollicares spic?cfornieS; 

 solitarii v. inferiores binati, sulcati sed non alveolati. SjiatlicB 3^ per 

 pedunculimi sparsae^ imbricato-vagiuantes (suprema pedunculum 

 plerumc[iie longe excedente), elongato-fusiformes, subacumiiiate, an- 

 ticc rimos9Q demum plurifissa3, 2-4 pollices longoe, papyracese, pal- 

 lide yirides, intus albida;. 

 Flores S confirti 2-4-natim aggregati yVH P'^U- longi. Calyx minutus 

 ciipularis trigonus nienibranaceus. Corolla coriacea camosula ener- 

 vis ; ^?efa/rt 3^ ovalia^ tertio fere orbiculari, valvata. Sta7nina G co- 

 rolla breviora ; jilamefiita tenuiuscula basi brevissime monadelplia ; 

 antherce dorsifixa?, loculis erectivS parallelis oblongis basi et proeclpuc 

 apice liberis, rima lateral! dehiscenteS; connoctivo brevissimo. Pi- 

 slilhim sterile tripartitum, filamentis suboequilongmn iisdem basi ipsa 



concretum. 



Leopoldikia, Mart. 



Leopoldinia is allied to Geonoma in "habit (althougli more ro- 

 bust), iu the alveolate spadiccs, the imbricated sepals audvalvate 

 petals of the flowers of both sexes, the trifid ovary, &e., — but dif- 

 fers abundantly in the stamens being free except at the very base, 

 and not united halfway up into a trigonons tube, in the erect 

 and combined anther-cells, and from both Geonoma and Nunnez- 

 hnria in the presence of an endocarp consisting of several layers 

 of stout interlaced fibres which are obviously the homolognes of 

 the retiform leaf-sheaths. From Euterpe, (Enocarpus, &c. it is 

 widely separated by the petals of the female flowers being valvate, 

 not convoluto-imbricate. 



I regret not having profited by my opportunities to make a 

 thorough examination on the spot of the female inflorescence and 

 fruit of these beautiful palms ; for L. pulch^a and major abound 

 along the shores, and on sandy and stony islands of the Eio Negro 

 and other black-water rivers of the Amazon-Orinoco region; 

 while the cordage-yielding L. Piassaha is almost equally abundant 

 iu low sandy flats of the adjacent forests *. 



* Those botanists who persist in calling tliLs palm '' Attalea fimifera,** because 

 its beard, so much employed in the manufacture of cordage, brooms, &c., bears 

 tlie same name (Piassaha) in commerce as that of the true Attalca ficnifera, 

 niight any time during the last twelve years have convinced themselves that 

 Mr. Wallace and myself have correctly referred it to Lcoj)oldinia, by consult- 

 ing my specimens in the Herbarium and Museum at Kew. 



For a fuller account of /v. Piassaha, its distribution and uses, I must refer to 

 Mr. Wallace's book (Pahns of the Amazon, p. 17), and to my own description 

 (Linn. Soc. Journ. ISGO, iv.), whereof I reproduce below only what is essential to 

 understiinding the species. 



