46 PALM TREES 



Genus Mauritia, Linnaeus. 



Male flowers on one tree, female or hermaphrodite 

 flowers on another. The spathes are imperfect, bract - 

 like, tubular sheaths. The male flowers have six 

 stamens. The female flowers have a three-lobed stigma 

 and six imperfect stamens. 



The stems are either tall, columnar and smooth, or 

 more slender and armed with strong conical spines. 

 The leaves are all fan- shaped or radiating from a centre. 

 The spadix is very large and pinnately branched, and 

 grows from among the leaves. The fruits are of mo- 

 derate size, oval or globular, and covered with rather 

 small imbricated scales pointing downwards. 



Four species are described by Martius, three of which 

 occur in the Amazon district, and four more were met 

 with by me on the Rio Negro, so that the genus seems 

 confined to the hottest parts of the American Continent 

 from the level of the sea to an altitude of about 3000 

 feet. 



