Palms of Puerto Rico 563 



eaten away by caterpillars. This feature is, however, shared with 

 numerous other West Indian and South American palms, though 

 apparently only one, the so-called grigri palm of Martinique 

 can be referred to the present genus with confidence. For this the 

 name Curima corallina [Martinezia corallina Martius, Hist. Nat. 

 Palm. 3 : 284) appears to be correct, although Martius places 

 Gaertner's much older Bactris minima as a synonym for his 

 species. Gaertner, however, was making a second attempt at re- 

 naming Jacquin's Bactris minor, having previously misplaced that 

 name in connection with a West Indian Acrocomia, probably the 

 same to which Jacquin had already supplied the name Cocos acule- 

 atus. Thus it is possible to treat Bactris minima Gaertner as a 

 synonym of Bactris minor Jacquin and the restoration of Gaertner's 

 inappropriate name for the Curima is thus avoided. 



With this preliminary description we may return to the consid- 

 eration of the generic names Martinezia, Aiphanes and Marara 

 which other writers have applied to relatives of the present palm 

 or treated as synonyms. Martinezia was described by Ruiz and 

 Pavon (Prodr. Flor. Per. et Chil. 148. 1794) for five Peruvian 

 palms, but it was amended by Martius ( Hist. Nat. Palm. 3 : 

 283) by the removal of all the original species and the substitution 

 of a new set. Of the original species studied .by Ruiz and Pavon 

 only two, M. ciliata and M. abmpta were mentioned in connection 

 with the original description of the genus, and this because they 

 offered exceptions to the generic characters. If these were to be 

 excluded for this reason from those among which the type is to 

 be sought the name Martinezia must go with the subsequently 

 published M. ensif minis, now referred to Euterpe ''' or with M. 

 lanceolata and M. linearis, now placed in Chamaedorea. If we 

 hold to the first species, M. ciliata, Martinezia is probably a syno- 

 nym of Bactris. The second species, M. abrupta, has escaped 

 Martius and the Index Kewensis, in which a sixth name M. intcr- 

 rupta is the only one by Ruiz and Pavon now credited as being a 

 genuine Martinezia. Thus by the method of elimination Marti- 

 nezia would according to current classification replace Chamaedorea 

 while by the method of types it would stand as a synonym of Bactris. 



The genus Aiphanes was established by Willdenow on Aiphanes 



- Roemer and Sclmltes treated Martinezia as a synonym of Oreodoxa. 



