Wettinia longipetala

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Wettinia (weh-tin-EE-ah)
longipetala (lohn-gih-peh-TAH-la)
Deb8615b261f9d254a2252ff1dc96e8635b14cb6.jpg
Photograph by: David Neill
Scientific Classification
Genus: Wettinia (weh-tin-EE-ah)
Species:
longipetala (lohn-gih-peh-TAH-la)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
America
America.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

Peru. Endemic to the Peruvian Andes, where only
Photograph by: David Neill
two collections are known. Premontane and montane rain forest at elevations from 700 - 1,200 metres. Peru (Pasco, ca. 700 m) and Cordillera de Cutuc� in S Ecuador.

Description

Wettinia longipetala is a single-stemmed palm, growing around 6 metres tall. The un-branched stem is topped by a crown of 5 - 6 leaves. (Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas. (Dr's Henderson A.; Galeano G.; Bernal R.)

Understorey or subcanopy palm. Stem solitary, about 6 m tall. Leaves about 4 m long, with about 30 pinnae on each side, these simple, spreading in one plane, about 50 cm long and 9 cm wide in the central part of the blade. Inflorescences unbranched, with peduncle 10-15 cm long; rachis 13-15 cm long. Female flowers densely crowded along the branches, with petals 2-3 cm long. Fruits brownish hairy, about 2.5 cm long, packed into a single elliptical mass about 15 cm long and 6-8 cm in diameter, with the persistent petals emerging among them. (Borchsenius F., Borgtoft-Pedersen H. and Baslev H. 1998. Manual to the Palms of Ecuador. AAU Reports 37. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Aarhus, Denmark in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Catalica del Ecuador) Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10a

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for its wood, which is used locally. The outsides of the stems are hard. They are used in construction and for making fences

Conservation: The plant is classified as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)



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).


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

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