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136 DR. B. SPBUCE ON \_Tnartea. 



* 



Radices l|-2-pedaIes, solitarii, simpliciter ramosi ; pedunculm coiiipres- 

 sus tomentellus j ranii subfastigiati elongati penduli alveolati. Spath(e 

 8 (solse mihi \dsa>; anne potius 4 v. 5, una alterave j am decisa?) 

 plano-convexse, pedunculum arete investientes; infima nuda, 2 supe- 

 rioribus tomentellis. 



Flores $ : sepala petalaqtte parva oblato-orbicularia medio crassiora/ 

 margine attenuata subciliataque. Baccc^ obovato-cylindracese m- 

 curva9 miniate J mesocarpium tenuissimum ; endocarpmm membra- 

 naceum viride mucilaginosum, interne vasibus rbapheos adhserentibus 

 sub 10 albis parce anastomosantibus vittatum; albumen albidum 

 corneum apice fere exacte geometrico embryonem flavum cylindra- 

 ceum fovens. 



Of this slender little palm the natives commonly make their 

 blowing-canes*. When I first found it and compared it with 

 Martius's account of J. setigera^ as abbreviated in Kunth's 'Enu- 

 meratio ' (iii. 195), it seemed to me certainly distinct, and I called 

 it in my MSS. '' Iriartea pruriens'' Martins says of his L sett- 

 5rera " spathse 4-5" (I found but three, although one or more 

 might have fallen away from my fruiting specimen), — and " bacca 

 elliptica," but nothing about its being gibbous, and widened up- 

 wards, as I have always seen it. But the greatest discrepancy is 

 in the height of the stem, which I have never seen above 20 feet, 

 whereas Martins gives it as " sub-50-pedaiis." Mr. Wallace, too, 

 found it but 15-20 feet high. I have since seen it extending 

 throughout the Eio Negro region, and preserving the characters 

 I have assigned to it ; but I dare not assume its diversity from 

 Martius's plant without consulting his original specimens. 



This is one of the very few palms that send out prostrate 



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siuckers from the root. 







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Euterpe. Mart. 



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I nave nothing to offer towards extending our knowledge of 

 this genus beyond a full description of Mr. Wallace's Euterpe 



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eaniinga, although the Amazon valley appears to contain seyeral 

 other undescribed species, especially on the lower slopes of the 

 Ancles. The " Assai," which affords a favourite drink to Ama- 

 zoniaia% of all castes and colours, although confideritlv referred by 

 Mr. WaUace to E, oleracea oi Martius, seems to comprehend two. 



and possibly three species. At Par^ and elsewhere the Palm- 

 tree itself is called " Yuogra " (written " Jocara** and " Jacoara 





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* See Mr, Wallftce s account {Palm.^, p. 40) of the way thc^ blowing-canes 

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