OF THE AMAZON. 23 



PLATE VII. 



Euterpe oleracea, Martins. 



Assai, Lingoa Geral. 



The Assai of Para is a tall and slender tree, from sixty 

 to eighty feet high, and about four inches in diameter. 

 The stem is very smooth, of a pale colour, and generally 

 waving, sometimes very much curved. The leaves are 

 of moderate size, of a pale bright green, regularly 

 pinnate, and with the leaflets much drooping. The 

 column formed by the sheathing bases of the leaves is 

 of an olive colour. The flowers are small, whitish, and 

 very thickly set on the simply branched spadix. There 

 are generally two or three, and sometimes even five or 

 six spadices, growing out horizontally from a little 

 below the leaf-column. The spathe is smooth and mem- 

 branous, and falls off as the spadix opens. The fruit 

 when ripe is about the size and colour of a sloe. It 

 consists of a hard albuminous seed, with a rather fibrous 

 exterior, and a very thin covering of a firm pulp or 

 flesh. 



This species is very abundant in the neighbourhood 

 of Para, and even in the city itself. It grows in swamps 

 flooded by the high tides, — never on dry land. Its 

 straight cylindrical stem is sometimes used for poles 

 and rafters; but the tree is generally considered too 

 valuable to be cut down for such purposes. A very 

 favourite drink is made from the ripe fruit, and daily 



