Mauritia Flexuosa
The Moriche, or Ita palm, very abundant on the
banks of the Amazon, Rio Negro, and Orinoco Rivers. In the delta
of the latter it occupies swampy tracts of ground, which are at
times completely inundated, and present the appearance of forests
rising out
of the water. These swamps are frequented by a tribe of
Indians called Guaranes, who subsist almost entirely upon the
produce of this palm, and during the period of the inundations
suspend their dwellings from the tops of its tall stems. The outer
skin of the young leaves is made into string and cord for the
manufacture of hammocks. The fermented sap yields palm wine, and
another beverage is prepared from the young fruits, while the soft
inner bark of the stem yields a farinaceous substance like sago.
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Next: Maximiliana Regia
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