A jauari palm tree (Astrocaryum jauari Mart.) growing on a river bank in Guyana. Watercolour by E.A. Goodall, 1846.

A clustering palm with pinnate leaves. A crownshaft is absent, and the leaves are erect in the crown. Prickles are visible on the leaf bases. On the suckering shoots, the artist faithfully captured the pinnae of juveniles that are wider than the pinnae of mature leaves. Pinnae are spreading in many planes, a characteristic of this species. The habitat depicted, the bank of a river, is also accurate for the species. The common name, Sawarai, is the name used by the Macushi people, several of whom accompanied as guides the expedition on which this palm was portrayed (R.H. Schomburgk, 'Visit to the sources of the Takutu, in British Guiana, in the year 1842', The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1845, 13: 18-75 1843, and 'Journal of an expedition from Pirara to the Upper Corentyne, and from thence to Demerara', The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1845, 15: 1-104). It corresponds to the name sauari used by the Wapisiana people (A. Henderson, The palms of the Amazon, Oxford University Press. 1995). Fruit of the jauari palm is used locally as fish bait