BACTRIS 



BACULARIA 



441 



equally or unequally pinnatisect, glabrous or pubes- 

 cent; segms. sparse or aggregated, or more or less 

 imperfectly connate, forming a bifid blade, acute or 

 rarely obtuse at the apex, the ciliate margins recurved 

 at the base; petiole short or long; sheath long, spiny: 

 spadices sessile or pedunculate, perforating the lf.- 

 sheaths; spathes 2, the lower short, open at the apex, 

 the upper coriaceous or woody, exceeding the spadix, 

 or fusiform, ventrally dehiscent, smooth, bristly or 

 spiny; bracts persistent: fls. small or medium, pale yel- 

 low 'or greenish: fr. small, green, ovoid or globose. 

 Species 90. Trop. Amer. G.C. II. 22:595. 



These are ornamental palms, but little grown on 

 account of the spines. The fruits of B. major are used 

 extensively in South America for food. 



The cultivation of bactris is easy if it is grown in a 

 warmhouse, with a range of temperature from 60 to 

 al given plenty of water. Frequent syringing is 

 advisable. It thrives best in a mixture of loam, two 

 parts; leaf-mold, one part; well-rotted cow-manure, 

 one part. The young plants are very decorative, but in 

 age most of the species become spindly. 



Propagation i.s by suckers which grow freely; rarely 

 by seeds, which are hard to get. 



A. Spines yellow, tipped black. 



pallidispina, Mart. (B. flanspina, Hort.). St. 10-18 

 ft. high, 1-2 in. diam., the internodes spiny: Ivs. 

 showv, 5-9 ft. long, equally interruptedly pinnatisect; 

 petiole 4-6 ft., brown-scaly, thickly covered with very 

 long (%-2i4 in.), black-tipped yellow spines, either 

 solitary or in groups of 2-4; segms. linear-lanceolate, 

 caudate-acuminate, prickly on the margins, the basal 

 ones 2-8 in. long, 1> in. wide, the upper, 12xlJ4 in.: 

 fr. 34 times exceeding the persistent calyx, about 

 1 1 A in- long. Brazil. 



AA. Spines black. 

 B. Lf. -segms. acute at both ends. 



major, Jacq. BEACH PALM. St. 9-15 ft. high, 1-1 ^ 

 in. diam., armed with rows of black spines 2 in. long: 

 petiole armed with very long black, terete spines; Ivs. 

 4-6 ft. long, equally pinnatisect nearly to the rachis; 

 sheath and rachis spiny and white or brown tomentose ; 

 segms. linear, acute at both ends, 25-^35 on each side, 

 1-nerved, 8-12 in. long, M-Hui. wide, glabrous on 

 both sides, densely setose, with black hairs along the 

 margin.: frs. about the size of an apricot, edible. Brazil. 



minor, Jacq. Fig. 448. A tall, slender-stemmed 

 palm, often 40 ft. in height, armed with many dark- 

 colored spines: Ivs. roundish in outline, about 3 ft. 

 long and composed of numerous narrow, sharp-pointed 

 Ifts. that are spiny on the veins beneath: spathe axil- 

 lary, solitary, spreading, very spiny; corolla in both 

 sexes gamopetalous: fr. rotund, purplish black. A 

 rare but showy palm grown sometimes in tropics. 



BB. Lf. -segms. acute at tip. 



Gasipaes, HBK. (Guilielma specipsa, Mart.). St. 

 about 60 ft. high, single or cespitose, with rings of subu- 

 late-compressed black spines, 1 in. long, the rings about 

 as far apart as the diam. of the st. : Ivs. 6 ft. long, curv- 

 ing; segms. dark green above, pale green below, very 

 numerous, approximate, 1J^ ft. long, 1}^ in. wide, 

 linear-lanceolate, long-acuminate, bristly or minutely 

 prickly along the margins: fr. orange or reddish, nearly 

 2 in. long, ovoid. Lower Amazon. 



horrida, Oerst. Cespitose sts. 6-8 ft. high, 8-9 in. 

 diam., very spiny, sheathed for most of its length with 

 bases of dead Ivs.; spines 3-4 in. long, 4-sided, whitish 

 tomentose, at length glabrous: Ivs. 2^-3 ft. long; 

 sheath 8 in., brown-tomentose ; petiole la ft., densely 

 spiny, subtetragonal, densely brown-tomentose be- 

 neath; segms. 7 in. long, J^in. wide, lanceolate, rigid, 

 glaucous. Unlike all the above in having a hairy but 

 not spiny spathe. Nicaragua. 



B. aurantiaca, Hort., is a "pinnate palm from Mex.. dwarf and 

 spiny but beautiful." The name is unknown in botanical literature. 

 B. caryot&ftilia, Mart., from Brazil, with wedge-shaped 3-lobed 

 pinnae, has been catalogued; also B. utilis, Benth. & Hook. (Gui- 

 lielma utilis, (Erst.), from Costa Rica, with spiny petioles and 

 young Ivs. jj. TAYLOR, f 



BACULARIA (Latin, baculum, a small walking-stick). 

 Palmacex, tribe Arecex. Two or three small palms, 

 completely spineless. By some, included in Linospadix. 



Stems very thin, either solitary or in bunches, which 

 are prominently ringed : Ivs. usually numerous, terminal, 

 unequally pinnate, and with relatively short petioles; 

 Ifts. coriaceous, usually alternate, from 4-6 pairs, strap- 

 shaped, and with incised or much-laciniated apices, 

 attached by a broad, almost decurrent base; nerves 

 prominent, numerous on older Ifts., on small ones soli- 

 tary: spathes in pairs; spadix consisting of a long spike- 

 like cluster, as long as or longer than the Ivs.; fls. in 

 3's, a female with 2 males in each cluster on the green 

 spadix: fr. small, obovate or ovoid, green, from ^-^ in. 



448. Bactris minor. 



long. The genus is confined to temperate and tropical 

 Austral. G.C. II. 22:595. 



For general culture, see Areca, to which they are 

 allied. The only species known in cultivation seem to- 

 do better in a temperate rather than a tropical house, 

 but shifting will probably be found advantageous. One- 

 of the smallest palms in cultivation, B. monostachya 

 is very popular, particularly in England. 



monostachya, F. Muell. (Areca monostachya, Mart. 

 Kenlia monostachya, F. Muell.). WALKING-STICK 

 PALM. Trunk 6-12 ft. high, scarcely 1 in. thick: Ivs. 

 IJ^ 4 ft. long; the sheath broad, coriaceous, about 

 6 in. long, produced into 2 stipular lobes; segms. very 

 irregular, acuminate, very variable in breadth and dis- 

 tance, adnate to the rachis, or tapering at the base, the 

 longest about 1 ft. long: infl. very long, often exceeding 

 the Ivs. ; stamens usually 10: fr. ovoid, about Hin- thick. 

 Queensland, New S. Wales. B.M. 6644. 



minor, F. Muell. Sts. several from the same rhizome, 

 2-5 ft. high, about J^in. thick: Ivs. about 3% ft. long, 

 with from 12-14 Ifts. : spadix about as long as the Ivs. or 

 a little shorter, scarcely -i^in. thick; stamens 12; seed 

 about yim. diam. Queensland. A delicate palm, not 

 so well known as the preceding, but attractive. 



N. TAYLOR, t 



