OF THE AMAZON. 93 



PLATE XXXVI. 



GUILIELMA SPECIOSA, Mavtius. 



Pupunha, Lingoa Geral. 



Pirijao, Indians of Venezuela, Humboldt. 



u The Peach Palm." 



This most picturesque and elegant palm has the stem 

 slender, cylindrical, and thickly set with long needle- 

 shaped spines disposed in rings or bands. It reaches sixty 

 feet in height, and grows quite erect, though in exposed 

 situations it becomes curved and waving. The leaves 

 are very numerous, terminal, pinnate and drooping, 

 forming a nearly spherical crown to the stem ; and the 

 leaflets growing out from the midrib in various direc- 

 tions, and being themselves curled or waved, give the 

 whole mass of foliage a singularly plumy appearance. 

 The young plants have the leaves entire like those of 

 the Bussii, but as the age of the tree increases they 

 break up into regular narrow leaflets. 



The spadices grow from beneath the leaves, and are 

 small, simply branched and drooping. The spathes 

 are ventricose, woody and persistent, curving over the 

 spadix. 



The fruit is about the size of an apricot, of a trian- 

 gular oval shape, and fine reddish-yellow colour. In 

 most instances the seed is abortive, the whole fruit 



