OF THE AMAZON. 



PLATE XVII. 



Mauritia flexttosa, Linnceus. 



Miriti, Lingoa Geral. 

 Murichi, in Venezuela. 

 Ita ? Mouth of the Orinoco. 



This is one of the most noble and majestic of the 

 American Palms. It grows to a height of eighty or 

 a hundred feet. The stem is straight and smooth, 

 about five feet in circumference, often perfectly cylin- 

 drical, but sometimes swollen near the middle or 

 towards the top, so that the bottom is the thinnest part. 



The leaves spread out in every direction from the top 

 of the stem. They are very large and fan-shaped, the 

 leaflets spreading out rigidly on all sides and only 

 drooping at the tips and at the midrib or elongation of 

 the petiole. The leaves stand on long stalks which are 

 very straight and thick, and much swollen at the base 

 which clasps the stem. A full-grown fallen leaf of this 

 tree is a grand sight. The expanded sheathing base is 

 a foot in diameter ; the petiole is a solid beam ten or 

 twelve feet long, and the leaf itself is nine or ten in 

 diameter. An entire leaf is a load for a man. 



The spadices grow out from among the leaves ; they 

 are very large, pinnately branched and horizontal or 

 drooping. The fruit is spherical, the size of a small 



