22 PALM TREES 



Genus Euterpe, Gartner. 



Male and female flowers intermingled on the same 

 spadix, the former more abundant in the upper part of 

 the branches, the latter in the lower. Spathe entire, 

 membranaceous, fusiform and deciduous. Flowers with 

 bracts, male with six stamens and a rudimentary pistil, 

 female with three sessile stigmas. Spadix simply 

 branched, spreading horizontally. 



These are very elegant palms ; their stems are lofty, 

 slender, smooth and faintly ringed. The leaves are 

 terminal, pinnate, regular, and form a graceful feathery 

 plume. The bases of the petioles are sheathing for a 

 long distance down the stem, forming a thick column 

 three or four feet long, of a green or reddish colour. 

 The spadices, three or four in number, spring from 

 beneath the leaves, and the spathes are very deciduous, 

 falling to the ground as soon as they open. The fruit 

 is small, globose, at first green, then violet or black, 

 and consists of a thin edible pulp covering the hard 

 seed. 



Twelve species are known, inhabiting the West Indies, 

 Mexico and South America, and there appear to be 

 three species in the Amazon district, two of which I 

 have figured. Some prefer marshy grounds near the 

 level of the sea, others extend up the mountains to a 

 height of 4000 feet- 



