Chamaedorea liebmannii
| Chamaedorea (kahm-eh-doh-REH-ah) liebmannii (leeb-mahn'-ee) | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
MEXICO. Chiapas. Oaxaca. Pueblao Veracruz. GUATEMALA. Huehuetenango. Dense, wet
Description
Solitary, slender, erect, infrequently decumbent, to 4 m tall, sometimes flowering when stemless. Stem: 2 cm in diam., nodes only slightly thickened, internodes to 10 cm long but usually shorter. Leaves: 4-9, pinnate, erect-spreading, sometimes covered with minute whitish lepidia; sheath 10-13 cm long, tubular, striate-nerved, subauriculate apically; petiole 12-27 cm long, ± triangular, slightly channeled and green above, rounded and pale below; rachis 30-45 cm long, sharply angled and green above, rounded and green below with a yellow band extending onto sheath; pinnae 13-18 on each side of rachis, 16-30 x 1.5-3 cm, linear to narrowly lanceolate, long-acuminate, constricted and plicate basally, alternate or slightly subalternate, gleaming-velutinous, lower somewhat reflexed and upper often confluent, a prominent midrib and 2-4 primary nerves on each side of this, secondaries numerous, slightly visible. Inflorescences: inter- or infrafoliar, spreading; peduncles 20-45 cm long; bracts 5-7, upper one to 25 cm long, fibrous, thin; rachises 2-9 cm long. Staminate with up to 26 rachillae, these to 25 cm long, ± pendulous toward apex, lower ones forked or branched, green in flower. Pistillate with 18-24 rachillae, these to 20 cm long, angled or ribbed, erect-spreading, lower ones sometimes branched, green in flower, red-orange in fruit. Flowers: Staminate in ± dense spirals, 3 x 2.5 mm, ± globose, yellow, in superficial elliptic depressions 1.5 mm long; calyx 1 x 1.5 mm, shallowly lobed, pale green, membranous, nerveless, sepals connate in basal 3/4, rounded or straight apically; petals 2.5-3.5 x 1.5-2.5 mm, valvate, connate apically and basally and adnate apically to pistillode and corolla opening by lateral slits, obovate, thin, slightly fleshy, angled apically, nerved on inside; stamens 2.5 mm high, filaments 1.5-2 mm long, orange, slightly connate basally, anthers 1.5 mm long, narrowly oblong, dorsifixed, yellow; pistillode 2.5 mm high, columnar, attenuate, rounded apically.| read more |
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| Pistillate in spirals, 3 x 1.5 mm, ovoid, yellow, in superficial elliptic depressions 1.5 mm long; calyx 1.25 x 1.5 mm, deeply lobed, green, slightly membranous, strongly nerved on inside, sepals connate in basal 'Il, acute and brown-margined apically; petals 3 x 1.25 mm, connate briefly basally, imbricate apically nearly to top, long-ovate, erect and ± recurved, margins angled, thin, strongly nerved; staminodes lacking or rarely 3 or 6; pistil 1.75 x 1 mm, subglobose, green, attenuate slightly apically, stigma lobes sessile, greenish, slightly separated, erect, rounded. Fruits: to 10 mm in diam., globose, black, epicarp slightly transparent, mesocarp thin, green, mucilaginous, endocarp slightly membranous, nerved; seeds 6.5 mm in diam. globose; fruiting perianth nerved. (Dransfield., J. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.
Martius named and described C. liebmannii from material that Liebmann had collected near Teotalcingo and Petlapa in Oaxaca, Mexico. Liebmann (1846) suggested a name for this species (elatior) but did not publish it formally. When Martius (1849) formally named the species, the prior use ofthe epithet elatior in Chamaedorea precluded its use, and Martius gave it a new name in honor of Liebmann. Although not presently cultivated, C. liebmannii was grown in Europe by about 1850 from material that Galeotti had introduced from Oaxaca. Wendland (1853b) named and described C. lepidota from Galeotti's material. Guillaumin (1923b) reported that C. lepidota was cultivated at the Musee de Paris in France since about 1850 and Belgian horticulturists knew it as C. velutina. Chamaedorea liebmannii occurs at relatively high elevations, usually in oak and/or pine forest. In Mexico, it grows with C. woodsoniana near the summits of Volcan San Martin and Volcan Santa Martha in Veracruz. In Oaxaca, we found it with C. woodsoniana, C. queroana, and C. rigida, while in Chiapas, we observed it with C. nubium and C. rojasiana. In Huehuetenango in adjacent Guatemala, we found it with C. carchensis, C. quezalteca, C. simplex, and C. verapazensis Dried herbarium material consisting of only leaves and fruits is similar to and may be difficult to distinguish from forms of C. elegans with narrow pinnae. This similarity to C. elegans prompted Liebmann and Oersted to place C. liebmannii in Collinia with C. elegans. However, the smaller habit, connate pistillate petals, and recurved stigma lobes distinguish C. elegans. Of course, if staminate flowers are available, the two species are relatively easy to distinguish. Staminate petals of C. elegans are connate nearly to the apex and the corolla opens by a terminal pore. Also, the ranges of the two species do not greatly overlap. C. elegans is most common below 1,200 m elevation while C. liebmannii occurs above 1,200 m. Plants of both species have pinnate leaves at a very early age. C. elegans has pinnate eophylls while the leaves of C. liebmannii become pinnate as early as the third seedling leaf. In their descriptions of C. aequalis, Standley and Steyermark (1947, 1958) included material from Solola and Quetzaltenango on the Pacific slope ofGuatemala with substantially larger dimensions than the type from the Atlantic slope of Huehuetenango. The extraneous material from the Pacific slope has a nerveless fruiting perianth and is best referred to C. whitelockiana or is an unnamed species. Although C. aequalis is included as a synonym of C. liebmannii, only the range of dimensions of the type is included in the description here. (Dransfield., J. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)/Palmweb. |
Culture
Comments and Curiosities
Etymology: Specific epithet honors Frederick Liebmann, collector of the type.
A small, slender palm from wet oak and pine forests in southern Mexico and Guatemala between 1200 and 1800 m (3900 and 5900 ft.) with beautifully glossy, wide leaflets. It has some similarities to C. elegans and could be considered a high altitude variant of that species. In cultivation it does best in a sheltered spot in the warm temperate garden. It can take cold and an occasional light freeze. (RPS.com)
- IMAGE GALLERY
Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bruce, Troy, Colin, Darold from California., and Wal giving scale. Photo by Wal.
Hawaii. Photo by Paul Craft.
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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).
Dransfield., J. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.
Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.
