A palm (Euterpe species) in Guyana: crown of leaves, fruit and stem base. Watercolour by E.A. Goodall, 1846.

The lettering by Goodall identifies the plant as "Oenocarpus species", but the inflorescence lacks the characteristic horse-tail form that characterizes Oenocarpus. Another note, written by another hand, identifies the palm as "Astrocaryum species", which is how it was previously listed in the Wellcome Collection catalogue. The morphology of the depicted palm (solitary, slender, unarmed stem, exposed roots, distinct crownshaft, regularly pinnate leaves, and infructescence without a persistent peduncular bract) points to Euterpe. The missing section from the middle of the stem suggests that this was a tall, slender palm. Four Euterpe taxa occur in Guyana (A. Henderson and G. Galeano, 'Euterpe, Prestoea, and Neonicholsonia (Palmae: Euterpeinae)', Flora Neotropica, 1996, 72: 1-90). The spreading, not pendulous, pinnae are suggestive of E. catinga var. roraimae, but without knowledge of the endosperm condition and other details, it is not possible to confirm this identification