STANDLEY — TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 83 



14. ATTALEA H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 309. 1815. 

 1. Attalea cohune Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 300. pi. 167. 1836-50. 



Jalisco to Oaxaca and Yucatan, chiefly in the littoral regions. Central 

 America ; type from Honduras. 



Trunk often 50 to 60 meters high, when short usually covered with per- 

 sistent leaf bases; leaves very large, sometimes 7.5 meters long (said to be 

 even 18 meters long and 2.5 meters wide), gracefully recurved, pinnate, with 

 very numerous segments ; inflorescence 1.5 to 2 meters long ; fruit resembling 

 a small coconut, about 7 cm. long, mamillate at the apex, subtended by the 

 accrescent perianth; seeds large, very oily. " Corozo " (Yucatan, Oaxaca, 

 Guatemala, Costa Rica); " palma de coquito de aceite," " coquino," "coco 

 de aceite," "coquito" (Colima) ; "palma real," "corozo gallinazo " (Pan- 

 ama); "cohune" (Honduras, Guatemala); " monaco," " manaca " (Guate- 

 mala) ; "coco de Guadalajara" (Chihuahua, in market). 



The( tallest and most showy of Mexican palms and one of the most im- 

 portant ones economically. The trunks are used for building purposes and the 

 leaves for thatching. From the trunk a liquor similar to that of the coco palm 

 is obtained. The flowers have a heavy, unpleasant odor, and attract bees and 

 wasps. The young bud or " cabbage " is cooked and eaten, and in Costa Rica, 

 at least, the young leaves are used for making hats. The fruits, however, are 

 the most important part of the plant. They are much eaten by cattle, and the 

 seeds are used for human food, especiallj'^ for the preparation of sweetmeats. 

 The seeds contain about 50 per cent of oil, which is extracted by pressure, and 

 is used chiefly for making soap, but also for candles, machine oil, etc. One 

 soap factory at Guaymas is said to have used 100,000 pounds of the oil a 

 year. 



Two species of Cocos described from Mexico by Liebmann probably belong to 

 this genus. They' may be synonyms of Attalea cohune, or they may represent 

 distinct species, for there is reason to believe that more than one species of 

 Attalea occurs in Mexico. Cocos regia Liebm. (Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 323. 

 1836-50) was based upon material from the mountains of eastern Mexico. C. 

 guacuyule Liebm. (Mart. loc. cit.) was collected near Guatulco, at an altitude 

 of 360 meters. The latter name has been much used in Mexican literature for 

 the plant here listed as Attalea cohune. The following vernacular names have 

 been reported : " Coyol," " coyole," " guacoyul," " hulscoyul," " quacoyul." 



15. ACROCOMIA Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 2: 66. 1823 (?). 

 1. Acrocomia mexicana Karw. ; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 285. pi. 138. 

 1836-50. 



Sinaloa and southward along the Pacific coast ; Yucatan ; type from Teoxo- 

 mulco. Guatemala. 



Trunk of medium height, very spiny ; leaves pinnate, with numerous thin 

 narrow segments, these pale and more or less hispid beneath ; rachis and petiole 

 of the leaf armed with very numerous long compressed blackish lustrous 

 spines; fruit globose, about 4 cm. in diameter: "Coyol" (Guerrero); "co- 

 coyol " (Yucatan); " cocoyul " (Sinaloa, Guerrero); "guacoyul" (Oaxaca; 

 from the Nahuatl, " cuau-coyotli " ) ; "coquito baboso " (Oaxaca). 



The fruit is edible and is often found in the markets. It is said that an in- 

 toxicating liquor Is made from it. 



16. ASTROCARYUM Meyer, Prim. Fl. Esseq. 265. 1818. 

 1. Astrocaryum mexicanum Liebm.; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 323. 183&-50. 

 Veracruz and Oaxaca (type locality). 



