332 
GUATEMALA. 
market-places tied in neat and attractive bundles. In 
taste it is rather insipid. On the ridges the Acrocomia 
sclerocarpa flourishes; its stem is, like the 
warree cohune, armed with formidable spines, 
which serve as pins, needles, and awls. The 
Acrocomia vinifera also is common in the 
valley of the Motagua. Along the river- 
banks the Desmoncus , a climbing palm, is 
very common and very troublesome to the 
explorer; but it shows such a curious adap¬ 
tation of parts to special ends that its bad 
qualities may be overlooked by the natural¬ 
ist. it is generally understood that in the 
foliage of palms the palmate form is the 
earlier, and that the growth or development 
of the midrib results in a pinnate or feather 
form. This is seen to be the case in the 
coco-palm, where the first leaves are palmate 
or fan-shaped; but when the palm is a few 
months old it puts off these childish gar¬ 
ments and dons the toga virilis in the pinnate 
form. In the desmoncus the development 
does not stop with the mere lengthening 
of the midrib, but transforms the leaflets 
at the end into claws to aid the limp 
stem to climb into sunlight. Here is a leaf- 
tip to show how this is done; the ribs of 
the leaflets, instead of expanding into thin 
blades, have thickened and bent backward to 
serve as the barbs of an arrow and allow mo¬ 
tion in one direction only. The leaf can push 
the stiffly bent fingers through the thick foliage, where 
Leaf-tip of 
Climbing Palm 
