A fruit is shown on the Plate of the natural size, and a spadix reduced showing the spathe bent over it.
Pl. XLV.
W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp.
ASTROCARYUM HUMILE. Ht. 9 Ft.
PLATE XLV.
Astrocaryum humile, n. sp.
Iú, Lingoa Geral.
This species has a stem two or three feet high, or is altogether stemless like the last. The leaves are six or eight feet long, slender and pinnate. The leaflets are much broader than in A. acaule, similarly disposed in spreading groups, but not so much drooping. The midribs and petioles are armed with long, slender, cylindrical spines pointing in various directions.
The spadices grow from among the leaves and are erect and simply branched. The spathes are erect or somewhat curved over the fruit, and clothed with thickly set bristly spines. The fruit is globular, covered with scattered stiff hairs, and of an orange-red colour. It is not eatable.
This species is not uncommon in the same situations as the last. The specimen with a stem was growing in a moister part of the forest. It seems to be an undescribed species.
The stemless and short-stemmed state of this plant are shown on the Plate, and a fruit is represented of the natural size.