OF THE AMAZON*. 61 



PLATE XXII. 



Lepidocaryum tentte, Martins. 



Caranai do Mato, of the Rio Negro. 



This, the smallest of the fan-leaved Palms, has a 

 smooth, ringed, waving stem as thick as one's finger 

 and six or eight feet high. Its dark green glossy leaves, 

 with narrow drooping leaflets, grow on long and slender 

 stalks which have their sheathing bases much swollen 

 and lengthened. 



The spadices are small and slender, and the fruits, 

 which are not abundant, are scaled in the same manner 

 as those of the Mauritias, and are about the size of a 

 large hazel-nut. 



This rare and elegant species grows in the gloomiest 

 depths of the virgin forest of the Upper Rio Negro, 

 generally at some distance inland from the rivers, and 

 shaded by the loftiest forest trees. 



Plate II. fig. 4. represents a fruit of this species of 

 the natural size. 



