60 PALM TREES 



Genus Lepidocarytjm, Martins. 



Male flowers on one tree, female or hermaphrodite 

 flowers on another. Spathes, imperfect, bract-like, 

 tubular sheaths. The male flowers have six stamens. 

 The female flowers have three sessile stigmas and six 

 imperfect stamens. 



The stems are very slender, unarmed with spines or 

 tubercles and deeply ringed. The leaves are fan-shaped, 

 and have slender petioles and long swollen sheaths. 

 The spadices are elongate and pinnately branched, 

 growing from among the leaves. The fruits are oblong 

 and covered with imbricated scales. 



These delicate and very rare little Palms scarcely 

 differ botanically from the last genus. Two species 

 only are known, inhabiting the dense virgin forests of 

 the Upper Amazon and Rio Negro, where they appear 

 to be very locally distributed. 



