14 
NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
Caraipe trees, and was fortunate enough to gather 
flowers and fruits of some of them, which confirmed 
Mr. Bentham's opinion of their being species of 
Licania. The leaves are mostly like those of our 
apple and pear trees, although the Licaniae are in 
reality more nearly related to the plum tribe 
(Drupaceae), and the small sub-globose drupes are 
not unlike very small and prematurely-ripened 
peaches in their downy skin, usually painted on 
one side with carmine or purple, but they are very 
dry and scarcely edible. 
I may add here that, besides what I saw of 
Caraipe bark on the Amazon proper, I found it 
applied to the same use on the Upper Rio Negro, 
the Uaupes, the Casiquiari, and the Orinoco as 
far downwards as to the cataracts, and that I saw 
Caraipe ware brought from the Guaviari. In this 
region it is mostly known by its Barre name of 
Canida, and utensils of very large size, such as 
stills and coppers, are made of it. Finally, I saw it 
in use also along the eastern roots of the Andes of 
Peru and Ecuador, or in the ancient provinces of 
Maynas and Canelos, where it is called Apacharama. 
During our stay at Caripi, Mr. Campbell had a 
small clearing made not far from the house for 
planting mandiocca. I examined the trees as they 
were cut down, and secured flowers of a good many 
of them. I had also two Miriti palms cut down, 
for the sake of truncheons of their trunks to send 
to the Museum of Vegetable Products at Kew. 
There were two forms, considered distinct species 
by Von Martius, viz. M. flexuosa, which has the 
fruits nearly globose ; and M. vinifera, which has 
