84 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



Trunk 1.2 to 1.8 meters high, densely covered with bhiclv spines ; petiole and 

 rachis densely spiny, the blades pinnate, the pinnae broadly linear ; spathes 

 densely spiny ; inflorescence spicate ; fruit fusiform, beaketl, densely spiny. 

 " Choc6n " ( Veracruz ) , 



17. BACTRIS Jacq. Stirp. Amer. 271. 1763. 

 Plants usually low, the stems unarmed or often covered with long spines; 

 leaves pinnatisect, the petioles usually spiny ; flowers monoecious ; fruit 1-celled, 

 1-seeded, the pericarp fleshy. 



Petiole and rachis of the leaf imarmed 1. B. acuminata. 



Petiole and rachis armed with long spines. 



Fruit globose, unarmed 2. B. baculifera. 



Fruit obovoid, ovoid, or turbinate. 



Fruit densely prickly 3. B. cohune. 



Fruit unarmed i 4. B. mexicana. 



1. Bactris acuminata Liebm. ; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 321. 1836-50. 

 Described from Chinantla. Oaxaca. 



Petiole and rachis unarmed, the pinnae elongate-lanceolate or the upper ones 

 elongate-obovate, linear-acuminate, black-aculeate beneath. 



2. Bactris baculifera Karw. ; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 322. 1836-50. 

 Type from Jicaltepec, Veracruz. 



Cespitose ; trunk 2.5 to 2.7 meters high, the internodes about 20 cm. long, 

 armed with numerous compressed spines 7 to 13 cm. long ; petiole and rachis 

 spiny ; fruit globose, unarmed. 



Wood very hard ; said to be used for canes, etc. 



3. Bactris cohune S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 21 : 467. 1886. 



Material from Tabasco probably belongs to this species. Originally described 

 from Guatemala. 



Trunk 1.8 to 4.5 meters high, straight, slender, densely spiny, covered with 

 the persistent sheaths of old leaves ; leaves pale beneath, the petiole and rachis 

 very spiny, the pinnae linear, often a meter long, aculeolate on the margin ; 

 spathes tomentose and spiny ; fruit obovoid, nearly 5 cm. long, prickly. 

 " Cocoyol de jauacte" (Tabasco). 



Fruit edible. 



4. Bactris mexicana Mart. Palm. Orbign. 65. 1847. 

 Veracruz and Oaxaca; type from Jicaltepec, Veracruz. 



Trunk of medium height, very spiny ; petiole and rachis armed with numer- 

 ous long slender black spines, the pinnae lance-linear, aculeate-ciliate, paler 

 beneath ; spathe very prickly ; fruit shaped like an acorn, about 2.5 cm. long, 

 surrounded at the base by the cuplike perianth. " Palma de garroche " 

 (Oaxaca) ; the " quauhcoyolli " of Hernandez, according to Martins. 



18. DESMONCUS Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 2: 84. 1824(?). 

 1. Desmoncus chinantlensis Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 321. 1836-50. 



Forests of Chinantla, Oaxaca. 



Trunk stout, flexuous, subscandent, very densely setose-aculeate ; leaves re- 

 mote, the petioles sheathing, spiny, the blades pinnate, with elliptic pinnae; 

 peduncles densely retrose-spiny ; fruit obovoid-globose. 



Plants of this genus are said to be known in Tabasco as *' balll " and 

 " matambilla," but perhaps these names apply rather to species of Bactris. 



