IO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 98 



need of authentic names for scientific study, and left a legacy for es- 

 tablishing a universal list of all the genera and species that had been 

 described, the well-known "Index Kewensis." 



GENERA FROM SOUTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 

 RELATED TO ROOSEVELTIA 



The palms that have been referred to Euterpe, though having a 

 general similarity in habits of growth, show numerous specialized 

 differences, some of which will undoubtedly be formulated to serve 

 as generic distinctions in place of the larger group which is still in part 

 treated as a large composite genus. Four genera have already been 

 recognized in this assemblage, Acrista in the West Indies, Oreodoxa 

 in Venezuela, Catis in Brazil, and Pleetis in Guatemala. Thirteen 

 new species of Euterpe, mostly from Colombia, were described in a 

 single paper published by Herr Burret in 1930, indicating that the 

 group may be much larger than has been supposed. 



The name Acrista was proposed in 1901 for the mountain palm of 

 Puerto Rico, as distinct from the ctssai palm of Brazil, which Martins 

 had described as Euterpe oleracea. This specific name was found to be 

 invalid because in the same work Martins had placed under Euterpe a 

 much older Areca oleracea, from the West Indies, originally described 

 by Jacquin in 1763, and later recognized as the royal palm of Bar- 

 badoes, Roystanea oleracea, To resolve this confusion, the name Catis 

 marticma was suggested in 1901 for the palm that Martins had de- 

 scribed as Euterpe oleracea. 



The genus Catis is similar to Acrista in its seeds with ruminate 

 endosperm and its seedlings with simple, bilobed leaves, but distinct 

 in its slender long-jointed trunk, longer leaves with more numerous 

 (80-100) narrow drooping pinnae, the inflorescence branches adnate 

 to the rachis above the insertion of the subtending bract ; surface of 

 axis and branches closely beset with stellate-tufted scales, including 

 the surface of the bracts; scars of male flowers often separated 2 to 4 

 times their diameter from the female flower-scars ; male flowers with 

 a large calyx, more than half as long as the petals, and oblong anthers 

 3 to 4 times as long as broad, notably longer than the filaments, instead 

 of short anthers and long filaments as in Acrista ; female flower-scars 

 enclosed by prominent triangular bracts, much overlapping below, but 

 little above. 



Catis is not a mountain palm like Acrista, but thrives in swamps 

 and water-courses in the lower Amazon Valley, its fruits being used 

 extensively, as already stated. Acrista in Puerto Rico is confined to 



