arranged, 20-25 X 2.5-3.0 cm, with a prominent midrib. Panicle ca 30 cm long, 

 bearing two bracts, the inner ca 35 X 5 cm, spined. Flowers and fruits 

 unknown. 



Distribution (of Desmoncus): Mexico, Beli/e, Guatemala, Costa Rica, 



Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, the Guayanas, Brazil, Bolivia. 



m 



streams 



stems are supported by the surrounding vegetation and often 

 difficult to separate for collection. As neither fruits nor flowers 

 have been collected and no other material from the same loca- 

 tion is available, a specific determination is impossible at pres- 

 ent. The species of this genus of bactroid palms are in any case 

 difficult to identify due to the phenotypic diversity mentioned by 

 Wessels Boer (1965). Organs such as the leaf and bract exhibit a 

 startling plasticity, those of one species varying greatly under 

 different conditions of light and water, or with age. Dugand 

 noted four species of Desmoncus in his 1940 treatment of the 

 palms of Colombia: D. horridus Splitg. ex Mart., D. leutzelbur- 

 gii Burret, D. setosus Mart., and D. tenerrimus (Mart, ex 

 Drude) Mart, ex Burret. Three species were added in his 1976 

 revision: D. myriacanthos Dugand, D. riparius Spruce, and D. 

 vacivus Bailey. 



This genus of palms is certainly in desperate need of taxo- 

 nomic revision. The climbing habit and extreme plasticity of the 

 organs make Desmoncus a challenging candidate for a compre- 

 hensive monographic study. 



Common Names: "Enredadera" (Spanish); "Camuve" (Gua- 

 hibo). 



Uses: Not known to be used in this area, but in other parts of 

 the Amazon Valley it is used to make basket frames. 



3. Bactrisa//! maraja Martius, Hist. Nat. Palm. 2:93, t. 71, fig. 1. 

 1826. 



Trunks 4 m tall, growing in groups of ca 15 together, 2-2.5 cm in diameter 

 and covered with flattened white, black tipped spines 1 -4.5 cm long. Leaves ca 



5 per stem, pinnate; sheath 32 cm long; petiole 36 cm long; rachis ca 1.20 m 

 long with 42-45 linear-oblanceolate, sigmoid, acuminate pinnae ca 28-30 X 



6 cm, irregularly grouped and inserted at various angles to the plane of the leaf; 

 spines prominent on sheath and petiole, these creamy white, flattened, with 



7 



