Ceroxylon pityrophyllum

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Ceroxylon (seh-ROKS-ih-lon)
pityrophyllum
(piht-ih-ROHF-ih-luhm)
Cp001289567.jpg
Bolivia.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Ceroxylon (seh-ROKS-ih-lon)
Species:
pityrophyllum
(piht-ih-ROHF-ih-luhm)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
America
America.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Palma amarilla, palma real, palmera (Bolivia), vicuña palmito, morona (Peru).

Habitat and Distribution

Bolivia, and Peru. Known from the Andes in Bolivia (La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and
Bolivia.
Chuquisaca) and Southeastern Andes of Peru (regions Cuzco and Puno;), at 1285-2800 m, on slopes in patches of cloud, semi-deciduous, or deciduous forest (in the Yungas humid forest, the deciduous mountain Chaco forest, and the Tucumano-Boliviano forest). It is often observed along with Parajubea (Kessler & al. 5683, in scheda), with Podocarpus parlatorei Pilg., Ternstroemia asymmetrica Rusby, or in cloud forests disturbed by grazing, or in transitional forests between cloud forest and dry forests, mixed with Podocarpus sp., Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan and other Fabaceae and Myrtaceae; above limits of subtropical deciduous dry forests (Vargas & al. 2270, in scheda), Lauraceae, Myrtaceae and Dictyocaryum lamarckianum (Mart.) H. Wendl. (Paniagua & al. 5869, in scheda), but never in dry forest (Nee & Vargas 38268, in scheda). It can form populations of over several hundred trees along ridgetop (Nee & Vargas 38268, in scheda), but is mostly seen as scattered sub-canopy individuals. In Perú, it is conserved in cultivated plots and favored in shade coffee plantations, where it can be more abundant than in natural conditions (F. Kahn et al., in scheda). Nevertheless, most of the natural habitat is being rapidly converted to pastures and cultivation farms (Nee & Solomon 30324, in scheda).

Description

Stem 4-20 (-22) m tall, 9.9-30.0 (-40.0) cm in diam., green, covered with a very thin layer of wax. Leaves 12-20 (-25), in a spherical crown, often grayish and with persistent, dried hanging leaves; sheath 40-124 cm long, 3.8 cm wide at apex, petiole 10-105 cm long, adaxially flat and slightly raised in the middle, green, glabrescent towards the middle, lepidote towards margins, abaxially covered with thick layer of persistent, yellowish stiff scales; rachis arched, 130-290 cm long, adaxially flattened in ½-3/5 of its length, ending in a well-defined 0.6 m hastula-like projection, that appears as if leaned to one side, glabrescent, abaxially convex, covered with scales like those on petiole; pinnae (47-) 85-134 on each side, pinnae disposition and insertion variable, arranged in groups of 2-8 (-13), and separated by 2.5-5.5 cm, inserted in many planes, or sometimes in very slightly divergent planes, sometimes pinnae inserted regularly on the basal and/or distal third of the rachis and in one plane, and sometimes almost regularly arranged in juveniles, the adaxial surface glabrous, the midrib bearing some persistent scale bases, the abaxial surface and midrib covered with yellowish linear; the most basal filiform pinnae 15-32 × 0.2-0.5 cm, basal pinnae (10th from base) 32-63 × 0.6-1.0 cm; middle pinnae 41-83 × 2.2-4.0 cm, apical pinnae 15-60 × 0.2-2.0 cm, the apical pinnae sometimes united along margins.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 9a

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: The young leaves are cut for Palm Sunday during the Holy Week, and the stems are used for posts, water canals, and thatching in home construction.

Conservation: This aspect has not been evaluated, but in Bolivia the species often grows in isolated forest fragments.



External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).

John Dransfield in Phytotaxa 34 (2011)


Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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