168 ' DR. B. sPErcE OK \_Mauritia. 



ofMartius) — solitary on the female, geminate on the male spadix; 

 whereas in Mauritia the male flowers (at least) are polystichous 

 on the spikes. 



The large handsome Palm which Mr. Wallace was the first to 

 figure and describe, under the name of " Mauritia Carana " (Palms, 

 pi. 18), differs in the structure of the male flowers from both the 

 above, having the petals united into a hypocrateriform corolla, 

 with a slender tube, to which the filaments of the stamens are 

 adnate ; whereas in Mauritia and Leindocaryum both the lanceo- 

 late petals and the stamens are free to the base. I have seen 

 reason, in comparing the structure of the male flowers of other 

 palms, to regard this difference as of only secondary importance; 

 and as I have unfortunately neither female flowers nor fruits of 

 Mr. Wallace's palm, I dare not separate it generically from M. 

 flexuosa, with which it entirely agrees in habit, except that the 

 leafy crown reposes on an immense mass of persistent decaying pe- 

 tioles, such as is never seen in M. flexuosa, For the present, there- 

 fore, I shall speak of it as a subgenus oiMauritia^ under the name 

 " Orophoma^^ in allusion to its general use on the Eio Negro for 

 the thatch or covering of houses. 



The three subgenera of Mauritia will therefore stand as fol- 

 lows : 



Fl. cJ ad ramulos spicifonues polystichi, 



petalis staminibudque liberis Eumaueitia. 



petalis in corollam hypocraterimorpimm coalitis, 



staminibus perigynis Okophoma. 



Fl. cJ ad ramulos distichi .Lepidocaryum. 



I append a list of all the species known to me, either from my 

 own observation or the descriptions of others. 



Subgenus I. Eumauritia, 



§1. Caudice inervii. (=-^wreYf vel ilfirtYi Brasiliensium = Moriche 



Orinocensium = Achudl et Agtidshi Peruvianorum.) 



1. M. FLi^xvosA, L.f. Tola America ^uatorialis Cisandina. 

 2- M. vinifera, Mart, Brasilia, ad fl. S. Francisco. 



§ 2. Caudice aciilcis annato. (= Car and Paraeusiuux 



» Cahudia Orinocensium.) 



3. M, Marti ana, Sprtice. Fl. Amazonum et Negro. 



4. M. armata, Mart, Brasilia, ad campos centrales. 



5. M. AcuLEATA, H. €t B. Fl. Ncgro, Atabapo, &c. 



6. M. ruMiLA, Wallace, H. Negro superior. 



7. M, suBiNKRMis, Spruce. Fl. Casiquiari. 



