Palm trees of the Amazon and their uses

Chapter 42: PLATE XXX. Bactris elatior, n. sp.

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About This Book

The work surveys numerous Amazonian palm species through detailed descriptions and forty-eight plates, focusing on morphological characters—stems, roots, leaves, inflorescences, and fruit—to aid identification. The author records native names and documents how local peoples employ palms for food, fibers, brooms, oils, and building materials, while noting variation in form and habitat distribution. Botanical remarks on genera, species distinctions, and geographic range accompany personal field observations and practical uses. Several taxa are illustrated from original drawings and compared with specimens in botanical collections to support accurate identification and application.

PLATE XXX.
Bactris elatior, n. sp.

Marayarána, Lingoa Geral.

This is a tall and elegant species. The stem is from fifteen to twenty feet high and about one inch in diameter, with a few scattered groups of small spines. The leaves are regularly pinnate, with broad leaflets narrowed at the base and ending in a lengthened point, the terminal pair being rather broader. The petioles and their sheathing bases are covered with broad, flat, whitish spines.

The spadices grow from among the lower leaves on long stalks and are simply branched and drooping. The spathes are elongate fusiform and spiny, and are persistent. The fruit is small and globular.

This very graceful palm grows in the moist part of the virgin forest of the Upper Rio Negro, where I found it on the banks of small forest streams; and it seems quite distinct from any of the very numerous species described by Martius.

Pl. XXXI.

W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp.

BACTRIS —— Ht. 20 Ft.