310 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



leaves which they make use of to manufacture cordage, superior in fineness, strength 

 and durability to that procured from the Mauritia flexuosa. They strip off the epi- 

 dermis and prepare it in the same manner as described in the account of that species, 

 but while the "miriti" is principally used for hammocks, the "tucum" serves for bow 

 strings, fishing-nets and other purposes where fineness, combined with strength, is 

 required. . . . 



The Brazilians of the Rio Negro and Upper Amazon make very beautiful hammocks 

 of fine "tucum" thread, knitted by hand into a compact web of so fine a texture as to 

 occupy two persons three or four months in their completion. They then sell at about 

 3£ each, and when ornamented with the feather-work borders, at double that sum. 

 Most of them are sent as presents to Rio de Janeiro. 



The method of stripping the epidermis and of twisting it into cords 

 on the naked thigh, as described by Wallace, appears to be exactly 

 the same as that used among the native negroes of West Africa in 

 preparing the fiber known commercially as "raffia," which is derived 

 from the epidermis of the young leaves of the African wine palm 

 (Raphia). 



DOMESTICATION OF THE PACAYA PALM IN GUATEMALA. 



Another domesticated palm, not hitherto recognized as such, exists 

 in the Coban district of eastern Guatemala. It is a species of Cha- 

 maedorea, locally known as pacaya. It is not grown for the sake of 

 its fruits or leaves, but for the fleshy inflorescences that are cooked 

 and eaten as a salad. Only the male plants furnish the edible inflo- 

 rescences, this palm being dioecious, like all of the species of Chamae- 

 dorea. The whole of the spadix or flower-bearing part of the inflo- 

 rescence is eaten and is of ver} 7 delicate texture. It compares with 

 other so-called "palm cabbages" much as cauliflower does with other 

 garden cabbages, the cauliflower representing the young tender 

 inflorescence of the plant instead of the fleshy leaf bud. The taste 

 of the cooked pacaya is slightly bitter, but the flavor is generally 

 relished, not only by the native population, but also by resident 

 Europeans. 



The difficulty of obtaining cabbages from other palms is that the 

 whole palm has to be sacrificed in order to obtain the small mass of 

 tender edible tissue in the terminal bud. With the pacaya no such 

 sacrifice is necessary. The removal of the inflorescence does not 

 injure the palms, and they continue to produce a succession of crops 

 during a considerable period of years. The pacaya is not planted 

 as a field crop, but is grown in considerable numbers as a garden 

 plant, not only about Coban, but in Purulha and other towns of east- 

 ern Guatemala. In the wild state it seems to be confined to heavily 

 shaded, humid valleys with other related species, but it also thrives 

 when planted in the open. The palm grows to a height of 15 or 20 

 feet, and has a crown of very handsome, gracefully drooping leaves. 



a Wallace, op. cit., pp. 105, 106. 



