THE NEOTROPICAL REGIONS 281 



the old world. Leaving out the coco-palm which has been dis- 

 tributed over the tropics of the whole world, the American palm-. 

 with two significant exceptions, belong to genera quite unrepre- 

 sented in the eastern hemisphere. 



The fan-palms of the genus Mauritia are very abundant, but 

 the pinnate-leaved genera are much more numerous. Some like 

 the wide-spread Maximiliana regia have immense leaves 30—40 

 feet long, and recall the sugar-palms of the East Indies. A par- 

 ticularly abundant and beautiful species is Euterpe oleracea, with 

 slender stems, and graceful feathery leaves. This occurs in great 

 numbers along the banks of the northern South American rivers. 

 The genus Bactris, mostly small palms, often with clusters of showy 

 black or red berries, is very common in the undergrowth of the 

 forests, and other small palms (Geonoma spp.) with almost en- 

 tire leaves are also abundant. The only climbing species belong 

 to Desmoncus, which in habit is much like the rattans of the eastern 

 tropics, but is really not closely related to them. 



Many palms are very important economically, the fruits furnish- 

 ing food, while the stems and leaves yield fibres, and building 

 material for the primitive dwellings of the natives, the leaves being 

 the usual thatch for the roofs. The " peach-palm" (Gulielma 

 speciosa) is extensively cultivated for its fruit, but according to 

 Bates 1 is unknown in a wild state. It bears immense clusters of 

 fruits of the size of a peach, which they resemble in color. They 

 are very nutritious, and an important article of diet among the 



natives. 



In the virgin forest the trees are so tall that even when they bear 

 showy flowers, they are scarcely perceptible from below, and the 

 general effect is that of luxuriant foliage with {lowers rare, or 

 inconspicuous. Indeed a large proportion of both trees ami shrubs 

 have inconspicuous flowers, although there are numerous excep- 

 tions. In the more open forest, and along the banks of streams. 

 there is sometimes a very magnificent display of flowers, and there 

 are some lofty trees, which in their flowering season are covered 

 with masses of brilliant bloom. 



Spruce 2 states that near Para the Legumino>a<- and Bignoniaceae 

 furnished the greatest number of showy trees and lianas. Among 

 the former are species of Cassia, Sclerolobium and Bauhinia. The 



^Loc cit., p. 290. 2 Loc.cit., ]>. 41. 



