COOK AND COLLINS—-ECONOMIC PLANTS OF PORTO RICO. 67 
never been cleared. A few of the palms follow down the steeper uncultivated 
ravines. From a distance the crowns suggest royal palms, but a closer view ren- 
ders the difference apparent. There is also no suggestion of the bulging trunk of 
Roystonea. In height the palma de sierra probably does not exceed the royal 
palm. 
Acrocomia. COROZO PALM. 
A genus of palms distributed through tropical America from Mexico and Cuba to 
Paraguay. All the species are of stocky, compact growth with a dense crown of 
numerous leaves. The trunk as well as the leaf stalks is usually armed with sharp 
spines, sometimes several inches long. 
The economic value of Acrocomia lies mostly in the nut-like seeds, an inch or 
more in diameter, which are constructed on the principle of the cocoanut. The 
outer fibrous husk is oily and edible in some species, and there is a nearly solid 
kernel, from which oil is extracted for food as well as for soap making and other 
purposes for which the cocoanut.and African oil palm are used. In Paraguay the 
collection of palm kernels from a species of Acrocomia has become a considerable 
industry and large quantities are exported to Europe. In order to free the nuts 
from the fibrous husk they are fed to cattle, after which they are cracked. The 
Porto Rican species has larger seeds than the Paraguayan and the husks are not 
known to be edible. The natives seem also to make little use of the meat except 
to eat it occasionally before fully ripe, when it tastes much like cocoanut. While 
the kernels, if extracted, could probably be marketed, it is possible that the labor 
required could find better remuneration in other work, though the subject might 
be worthy of investigation in districts where the palms are abundant. 
The outer shell of the trunk of the corozo palm is extremely hard, but seems to 
be used in Porto Rico only for the manufacture of walking sticks. When well 
made these are bot curious and beautiful. The general color is a deep rich red- 
dish brown. irregularly nerved with the lighter color of the compacted fibrous 
strands. 
From the leaves of Acrocomia a fiber of great strength and fineness has been 
obtained in some of the British West Indies, but it seems not to have been applied 
to any civilized purpose or to have become a regular article of commerce. 
Acrocomia aculeata. 
A species from Martinique, referred by Martius to A. sclerocarpa. It has not 
been noticed in Porto Rico. 
Acrocomia media. _Corozo. 
Although totally different on close inspection this palm has a superficial resem- 
blance to the royal palm, which often deceives travelers. The similarity lies 
mostly in the two facts that both the royal and ‘*‘ corozo’’ palms are more robust 
and stiffly erect than the cocoanut, and that the leaf divisions instead of lying 
horizontal and in one plane are tilted at different angles to the midrib, thus giving 
the foliage seen in the mass a somewhat unkempt appearance in comparison with 
the cocoanut. 
In distinguishing the corozo palm from the royal palm when seen at a distance 
so great that the spines of the one and the columnar green leaf sheaths of the 
other can not be seen, recourse may be had to the following facts. The leaf crown 
of the corozo palm is much rounder, thicker, and more compact than that of the 
royal palm, since it contains many more leaves, and these persist much longer. 
The royal palm can also be known by the unopened leaves which project straight 
upward like flag poles or lightning rods, while in Acrocomia the leaves open as 
they are pushed out and seldom offer a suggestion of the spire-like effect. 
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