Trunkless palm, 3 m tall. Leaves pinnate; petiole ca 1 m long; rachis ca 1 .75 

 m long, both petiole and rachis covered with scurfy brown scales and dark 

 brown, flattened, dentate, downward-pointing spines; pinnae 146-180 per 

 side, inserted singly or in groups of 1-4, at various angles to the plane of the 

 leaf, apical segments of a more regular arrangement; basal pinnae 50 X I cm; 

 middle pinnae 55 X 1 .5-2.0 cm; apical pinnae 75 X 7.5 cm; pinnae light green 

 above, silvery on underside; midrib edged with thin spines 2 mm long. Panicle 

 axillary, ca 1 . 10 m long, bearing a peduncular bract, light brown, covered with 

 flattened, dark brown spines ca 2 cm long; bract bending in center with age, 

 forming a hood over the fruits; peduncle ca 75 cm long, spined, rachis 20 cm 

 long with many rachillae ca 10 cm long. Flowers not seen. Fruits ovoid, api- 

 cally beaked, 3.0-3.5 X 2.0-2.5 cm, orange when ripe. 



Distribution: Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil. 



Wallace (1853) noted this palm as common in the dry catinga 

 forests of the upper Rio Negro. In his opinion, ". . .it has alto- 

 gether a rather repulsive and inelegant appearance." However, 

 in the Llanos, forest vegetation of any type is most welcome, and 

 thus I am unable to concur with his feelings about this plant. 

 Rather the opposite in fact, the acaulescent habit and "hooded" 

 inflorescence make A. acaule one of the more unusual and even 

 beautiful species in the genus. 



Common Names: "Espina" (Spanish); Mataviculi" (Gua- 

 hibo). 



Uses: The Gauhibo collect the ripe seeds of this species and 



use them to cap the silipu, or snuff tubes. After the epicarp and 



mesocarp are removed, the endocarp is pierced longitudinally 



and attached to one end of the tube to be inserted against the 

 nostrils. 



6. Socratea exorrhiza (Martius) Wendland, Bonplandia 8:103, 



1860 



Trunk 15-20 m tall, ca 12 cm in diameter, occasionally swollen at middle, 

 with stilt roots covered with spines 5 mm long. Leaves pinnate, ca 7 per coma, 

 with clasping sheaths forming a crownshaft; sheath 1 .2 m long; petiole 25 X 2.5 

 cm; rachis 1.9-2.0 m long; pinnae ca 16 per side inserted irregularly along the 

 entire length of the rachis, dark green above, light green below, laciniate, 

 divided into numerous wedge-shaped, dentate segments, middle pinnae ca 90 X 

 23 cm; apical pinnae 35 X 7 cm. Inflorescences 1-4 per stem, ripening below 

 the crownshaft; bracts ca 7; primary axis 29 cm long by 2 cm wide at base of 

 first bract scar, reflexed into the shape of an inverted "U" upon maturation; 

 rachillae 10, each ca 45 cm long. Flowers not seen, (presumably) unisexual. 

 Fruits ellipsoid, 2.75-3.0 X 2.0-2.25 cm, orange-yellow when ripe, with a small 

 apical or slightly excentric stigmatic residue. 



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