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variety of palms. But a few may be worth noting here for their 

 size, economic importance or for other reasons. The largest 

 palm in Brazil, a native of the drier parts of the country soon 

 bids fair to be one of the most important. It is the babassii 

 {Orbigyua speciosa), growing over huge tracts in Maranhao, 

 and of which there are several nearly mature specimens in the 

 Rio Garden. Picture an immense trunk-like caudex 3-4 feet 

 in diameter, crowned at the top by tremendous pinnate leaves 

 from 20-35 feet long. From this great crown hang 10-14 

 fruit clusters each with 300-400 incredibly hard nuts. In these 

 are the babassu kernels so rich in oil that they are now occupy- 

 ing the attention of soap and margerine makers 



Nearly as large and quite as impressive are various palms 

 of the genus Scheelea, known collectively as anaja. They have 

 pinnate leaves 20-30 feet long in young almost stemless speci- 

 mens, while plants fifty feet high have leaves 15-20 feet long. 

 Scheelea osmantha, particularly has a huge crown of leaves. 

 Among other pinnate palms are fine specimens of the pupunha 

 {Giiilielma speciosa), much cultivated in the Amazon for its 

 scarlet and yellow edible fruit; the piassaba (or piassave or 

 even piagaba) which yields valuable fiber and is the source of 

 thecoquilla nut; the extraordinary paxiuba (Iriartea exorrhiza) 

 which grows perched up on a great series of Pandaniis-Wke 

 prop roots that are covered with tubercular prickles; the 

 maraja (Bactris maraja) which has its clustered trunks covered 

 with divaricate, black, flat spines about four inches long and 

 has each leaflet ending in a long, fine herbaceous tip like a 

 dripping tip; the macauba (Acrocomia inkimescens) with a 

 curious trunk thicker half way up than above or below this 

 swelling and with its fruit clusters half hidden by the crowd 

 of persistent dead leaves that always clothe the trunk; the 

 African oil palm, or dende as they call it at Rio {Elaeis guine- 

 ense), now considerably cultivated in Brazil for its oil; and the 

 urucury (Attalaea excelsa), the fruits of which, with a few 

 others, are still used in the coagulation of rubber. 



There are not so many fan palms. The most striking is 

 perhaps the miriti {Mauritia flexuosa) which, in striking 

 contrast to many Brazilian palms is completely free of spines. 

 It has petioles 12-15 feet long and blades 9-10 feet wide. The 

 fruits and buds are eaten, wine is made from its sap, a kind 



