Palms of British Guiana. 227 
' minute', rudimentary ones in female. Ovary 3-celled : stigmas 3, 
sessile, lateral, excentrical in fruit. Berry 1 -seeded, fibrous. Albumen 
ruminate, embryo basilar. — High, unarmed palms : leaves pinnatisect ; 
segments flattish ; spadix lateral below the leaves, simply branched, 
equalling the inner spathe ; branches long, fastigiate, at length spread- 
ing : flowers sunk into concavities, bracteolate ; berries globose." 
Griesbach.~] 
E. edulis, Mart : 
Local Names. 
Creole Manicole. 
True Carib Wassi. 
Arawak Manaka. 
Warrau Morrokke. 
Coespitose, having up to 12, or even more, slender, seldom straight 
stems from one mass of, partly aerial, roots. These clumps are formed by 
the young shoots sprouting from the base of the original stem, at an 
early period of its growth. The diameter of the old clumps at the base 
of the aerial roots is sometimes as much as 14 — 20 feet. The largest 
clumps are those in swamps in the forest, generally at the head of some 
small creek; those immediately on the banks of the larger rivers are, 
as a rule, smaller. The numerous aerial roots form a dense, impene- 
trable mass. 
Measurements.* — Height of aerial roots 3 ft. 3 inches from summit 
of aerial roots to base of leaf-stalks 5 ft. ; from top of sheath to lowest 
pinnae 10 inches. Length of leaf from base of leaf-stalk, 7 ft. 10 inches. 
Breadth of leaf 2 ft. 3 inches. Girth of trunk above aerial roots 2 ft. 3 
inches ; at middle of stem 1 ft. 6 inches ; just below sheath of leaf- 
stalk, 7 inches. 
This very beautiful and graceful palm is widely dis- 
tributed throughout the colony, but, befog a swamp plant, 
is far more abundant in the low alluvial coast-lands than 
in the interior of the colony. In the last mentioned 
place it is restricted to the moist, wooded swamps at the 
heads of creeks. 
* In all cases the measurements given have been actually taken from 
apparently average specimens. 
FF 
