OF THE AMAZON. 125 



PLATE XLVIII. 



Cocos nucifera, Linnceus. 



Coqueiro, Portuguese. 

 The Cocoa-nut. 



The stem of this well-known palm is very smooth, 

 seldom quite erect, and often much thicker at the bottom. 

 The leaves are large, terminal and regularly pinnate. 

 The leaflets are rigid, and spread out very flat on each 

 side of the midrib. From the sheathing bases of the 

 petioles grows a compact fibrous material resembling in 

 texture the spathe of the Bussu. 



The spadices are produced from among the leaves, 

 and are large and simply branched. The fruits are very 

 large, and have a dense fibrous external covering over 

 the well-known cocoa-nut. 



This tree is not a native of South America, but as it 

 is generally cultivated in every part of the tropics, I 

 have given a figure of it. Its peculiar characteristic 

 is the rigidity of its leaves, which curve or droop very 

 slightly, and the leaflets spread out with remarkable 

 flatness and regularity. The stem also is rather 

 massive in accordance with the immense weight of 

 fruit which it produces, and the whole tree, though 

 exceedingly handsome, has not that light and feathery 

 appearance which it is often represented as possessing. 

 It is not impossible, however, that it may have ac- 



