Geonoma leptospadix

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Geonoma (geo-NO-mah)
leptospadix (lehp-toh-SPAH-dihks)
14081560001 84ae9741b3 o.jpg
Rio Amapari, state of Amapá, Brazil. Photo by André Cardoso.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Geonoma (geo-NO-mah)
Species:
leptospadix (lehp-toh-SPAH-dihks)
Synonyms
Geonoma saramaccana
Native Continent
America
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Morphology
Habit: Solitary & Clustering
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

Bolivia, Brazil North, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. From 6°43'N-13°04'S and 46°26-77°18'W in the Amazon region of Colombia,
Rio Amapari, state of Amapá, Brazil. Photo by André Cardoso.
Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia at 361 (125-850) m elevation in lowland rainforest.

Description

Small palm, 1.5 (0.5-3.0) m tall; stems 0.8 (0.4-2.0) m tall, 0.7 (0.5-0.9) cm in diameter, solitary or clustered, canelike; internodes 0.9 (0.5-1.6) cm long, yellowish and smooth. Leaves 13 (10-17) per stem, undivided or rarely irregularly pinnate, not plicate, bases of blades running diagonally into the rachis; sheaths 9.0 (7.0-12.0) cm long; petioles 6.6 (2.5-13.0) cm long, drying green or yellowish; rachis 32.0 (21.8-43.0) cm long, 2.7 (1.5-4.3) mm in diameter; veins not raised or slightly raised and triangular in cross-section adaxially; pinnae 1 (1-3) per side of rachis; basal pinna length and width not applicable, forming an angle 20(10-28)° with the rachis; apical pinna 11.4 (6.3-15.3) cm long, width not applicable, forming an angle of 26(20-35)° with the rachis. Inflorescences branched 1 order; prophylls and peduncular bracts not ribbed with elongate, unbranched fibers, flattened, persistent; prophylls 5.9 (4.3?-10.4) cm long, not short and asymmetrically apiculate, the surfaces not ridged, without unequally wide ridges; peduncular bracts 5.0 (3.7-6.4) cm long, well-developed, inserted 0.9 (0.3-2.3) cm above the prophyll; peduncles 13.7 (6.5-20.3) cm long, 2.4 (1.4-3.3) mm in diameter; rachillae 4 (2-6), 13.7 (6.5-28.0) cm long, 1.3 (0.9-1.8) mm in diameter, the surfaces without spiky, fibrous projections or ridges, drying brown, with faint to pronounced, short, transverse ridges, not filiform and not narrowed between the flower pits; flower pits spirally arranged, glabrous internally; proximal lips without a central notch before anthesis, not recurved after anthesis, hood-shaped at anthesis, sometimes splitting postanthesis; proximal and distal lips drying the same color as the rachillae, not joined to form a raised cupule, the proximal lip margins overlapping the distal lip margins; distal lips well-developed; staminate and pistillate petals not emergent, not valvate throughout; staminate flowers deciduous after anthesis; stamens 6; thecae diverging at anthesis, inserted almost directly onto the filament apices, the connectives bifid but scarcely developed; anthers short and curled over at anthesis; non-fertilized pistillate flowers deciduous after anthesis; staminodial tubes crenulate or shallowly lobed at the apex, when lobed the lobes not spreading at anthesis nor acuminate, those of non-fertilized pistillate flowers not projecting and persistent after anthesis; fruits 8.0 (7.0-9.4) mm long, 7.2 (6.0-7.8) mm in diameter, the bases without a prominent stipe, the apices not conical, the surfaces not splitting at maturity, without fibers emerging, not bumpy and not apiculate; locular epidermis without operculum, smooth, without pores. (Henderson, A.J. (2011) A revision of Geonoma. Phytotaxa 17: 1-271.)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Taxonomic notes: - Geonoma leptospadix appears similar to both G. deversa and G. laxiflora. It differs from G. deversa in its spirally arranged flower pits and from G. laxiflora in its prophylls which are not short and asymmetrically apiculate.

Subspecific variation: - No trait varies within this species except for stem branching and leaf division. One specimen (of 47) has a pinnate leaf. There is geographical variation in this species. Regression shows there are significant associations between longitude and two stem, six leaf and four inflorescence variables. Squared multiple R for the regression of plant height on longitude is 0.15, stem diameter 0.43, petiole length 0.24, rachis length 0.37, rachis width 0.23, basal pinna angle 0.08, apical pinna length 0.29, apical pinna angle 0.25, prophyll length 0.45, peduncle length 0.43, peduncle width 0.14, and rachillae length 0.38. From east to west, plants become taller with thinner stems, petioles longer, and basal and apical angles wider. All other variables decrease and inflorescences in particular become smaller. See under Geonoma deversa for hybrids between that species and G. leptospadix. (Henderson, A.J. (2011) A revision of Geonoma. Phytotaxa 17: 1-271.)/Palmweb.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: The Awá of Ecuador use the leaves in the construction of houses for thatching roofs of homes. Tools and utensils - In a few cases the root is used as a broom.

An understorey plant in lowland rain forest, growing on plains and slopes but always on well-drained soils that are not subject to inundation; usually at elevations up to 900 metres.



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).

Henderson, A.J. (2011) A revision of Geonoma. Phytotaxa 17: 1-271.


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

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