season, and the fruits are ready for collection toward the middle 
of the rainy season’. The fruits are winged and roughly oblong in 
Shape. The average weight per fruit is 14 g., most of which is the 
woody pericarp. The edible portion of the fruit is nut-like, 
reminiscent of a large cashew in color and texture and, when 
fresh, accounts for about 24% of the total fruit weight (see plate 
20). 
The fruits are gathered from the forest floor complete with 
woody pericarp. The Tatuyo are selective in their gathering and 
avoid malformed, worm-infested and sprouted fruits. In a sam- 
ple gathered by the author, it was found that about 20% were 
deemed inedible by Tatuyo standards. The trees are dispersed in 
the forest surrounding the village, but there are well-known 
areas which have a somewhat higher frequency of trees than 
others. 
Monopteryx angustifolia is referred to by the Tatuyo as 
“jimio” and by neighboring Tukano speakers as “simio”. The 
tree flowers toward the end of the dry season in January and 
February and, like Erisma Japura, fruits toward the middle of 
the rainy season in May and June’. The fruit is a long flattened 
pod, approximately 18-20 cm. long with an average weight of 
over 50 g. (plate 21). The pod is cracked open by the heat of the 
sun, allowing the seed to fall free to the ground. In the forest 
during the heat of the day, one can hear the characteristic crack 
of the pod, followed by the sound of the pod and seed falling 
through the leaves overhead. 
The pulse is a large flattened disk measuring approximately 
4.5 < 3.5 * I cm., with an average weight of about 7 g. The seed 
coat is usually slipped off as the seed is collected. Sprouted 
seeds, with sprouts of up to 3 or 4 cm., are acceptable and 
frequently collected toward the end of the harvest season. 
As is also true of Erisma, the trees are not uniformly distrib- 
° Flowers were collected in January 1977. Fruits were collected from a different tree in 
late April 1977, In 1978, the Tatuyo said that the trees were not going to flower, and 
the first flowers located appeared in mid March. 
’ Fruits were collected in April 1977. A late-fruiting tree was spotted the first of August. 
As was the case with Erisma, the Tatuyo said that the trees were not going to flower in 
1978. However, a flowering tree was located on March 21, 1978. 
74 
