142 cook: ivoey palms in Panama 



diagnoses of new species from panama 



Phytelephas pittieri. Trunk erect, attaining a height of about 8 meters, 

 with a diameter of about 25 cm. ; leaves about 12 with short petioles and 

 about 70 pairs of pinnae equally spaced along the rachis; male inflores- 

 cence cylindrical, about 1.20 meters long; male flowers with 300-400 

 stamens, fruits 8-9 in a head, with large external spines. Collected at 

 Puerto ObaMia, Panama, August, 1911, by H. Pittier (No. 4323); type 

 in U. S. National Herbarium, No. 716082. 



Phytelephas cornutus. Trunk decumbent, creeping by numerous roots ; 

 leaves about 20, with about 90 pairs of equally spaced pinnae; fruits 

 5-6 in a head, with 6-7 nuts in each fruit; cortex with rather long and 

 slender spines, and a persistent woody style; cortical fibers long and 

 slender, not densely crowded, compacted under the style into a persistent 

 hardened columella about 2 cm. long; pulp and mesocarp fibers only 

 slightly developed, the latter forming a very thin fragile layer adherent 

 to the surface of the nut; hilum surrounded by a prominent margin 

 bearing the adhilum as a long slender spine. Collected in the Rio Fato 

 Valley, near Nombre de Dios, Panama, August 16, 1911, by H. Pittier 

 (No. 4230); type in U. S. National Herbarium, No. 691786. 



Phytelephas brevipes. Trunk very short; male inflorescence about 15 

 cm. long; fruits broad and flat, or slightly depressed in the middle, 9 

 in a head,. with 6 nuts in a fruit; cortex with rather coarse robust spines 

 and rather short cortical fibers; pulp fibers distinct, but few; mesocarp 

 fibers abundant, formed into a tough cloth-like sac entirely free from 

 the nut and with an open space between; nuts rather large, usually 

 strongly compressed; adhilum submarginal, transverse, triangular, cari- 

 nate on the upper face. Collected at Gasapasabana, Upper Mamoni 

 River, Panama, October, 1911, by H. Pittier (No. 4473); type in U. S. 

 National Herbarium, No. 679633. 



Phytelephas hrachinus. Trunk robust, decumbent, attaining a length 

 of about 3 meters and a diameter of about 40 cm.; fruits somewhat 

 rounded or lenticular, scarcely depressed in the middle, but sloping to 

 the sides, 5-6 in a head, with 5-6 nuts in each fruit; cortex with rather 

 small slender spines, cortical fibers very short and weak; pulp fibers 

 slender and sparse ; mesocarp fibers very delicate and weak, but forming 

 a rather tough, parchment-like membrane adherent to the bony endo- 

 carp; nuts short and with the upper surface sloping outward; hilum 

 small, oval or elliptic, not prominent, with a cluster of small rounded 

 pits near the middle; adhilum represented by a small rounded triangular 

 prominence. Collected at Garachine, San Miguel Bay, near the south 

 coast of Panama, by H. Pittier; type in U. S. National Herbarium, No. 

 691785. 



Phytelephas hi-achelus. Fruits obconic or obpyramidal, with a strong 

 central depression, 9 in a head, with 6-7 nuts in each fruit; cortex with 

 very short spines, about 0.5 cm.; cortical fibers well developed, attain- 

 ing a length of about 1 cm.; pulp and mesocarp fibers thin, the latter 



