Common Names: "Seje pequeno" (Spanish); "Cuperi" 

 (Guahibo). 



Uses: Both oil and a milklike beverage, similar to that of 

 Jessenia bataua, are produced from the ripe fruits. 



9. Oenocarpus mapora Karsten, Linnaea 28: 274 t. 55. 1857. 



Trunks solitary to caespitose, 8-14 m tall, 10 cm in diameter, when young 

 covered with brown, strawlike fibers, becoming clean and smooth at maturity. 

 Leaves pinnate; sheath ca 50 cm long by 22 cm in circumference, olive green; 

 petiole 10X3 cm; rachis ca 2.25 m long, covered with red-brown scale; pinnae 

 54-69 per side, regularly or irregularly inserted along the rachis, some in 

 groups of 2 and at an angle to the plane of the leaf; basal pinnae 55-75 X 

 2.0-3.5 cm, middle pinnae 0.6-1.0 m X 3.5-5.5 cm, apical pinnae 20-33 X 

 1.25-2.75 cm, all glossy green above, underside with a waxy bloom. Panicle 

 bearing 2 bracts, the outer a prophyll 25-45 cm long, the inner a peduncular 

 bract 50-85 cm long; primary axis variable in size and shape, ca 13-19 cm long 

 by 2.75 cm wide at base of bract scar, emerging white, changing to scurfy-red in 

 fruit; rachillae ca 75-80, ca 40-50 cm X 2-3 mm; flowers borne in triads of 1 

 pistillate surrounded by 2 staminate on proximal 1 5 to 1 / 3 of the rachilla, on 

 distal section only staminate flowers present. Staminate flowers with sepals 3, 

 petals 3, stamens 6. Fruits subglobose, 1.75-2.5 X 1.5-2.0 cm, purple-black 

 when ripe; endosperm homogenous. 



Distribution: Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, 

 Brazil, Bolivia. 



This palm, which is widespread in the Amazon Valley, is 

 either caespitose or solitary in habit. Local people claim that the 

 palms, which are highly valued for their oily fruit, flower three 

 years after planting. Because of its slight stature, the trunk is 

 easily climbed and is not cut for harvesting. The variation in 

 pinna insertion in the same population, either regular or irregu- 

 lar, is quite striking. 



Common Names: "Seje pequeno," (Spanish); "Macopaji" 

 (Guahibo). 



Uses: A milklike beverage, similar to that derived from Jesse- 

 nia bataua, is made from the ripe fruits, which are also occa- 

 sionally used for oil production. The slender, straight stems are 

 used for gates and in construction. 



10. Maximiliana maripa (Correa da Serra) Drude, Mart. Fl. 

 Brazil. 3: 452, t. 104. 1881. 



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