Chamaedorea neurochlamys
Chamaedorea (kahm-eh-doh-REH-ah) neurochlamys (new-rock-LAHM-eez) | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
Chamaedorea neurochlamys is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Southeast, and Nicaragua. MEXICO. Campeche. Chiapas. Quintana Roo. GUATEMALA. Alta Verapaz. Huehuetenango. Izabal. Peten. BELIZE. Cayo. Stann Creek. Toledo. HONDURAS. Atlantida. Comayagua. Cortes. La Paz. Ocotepeque. Dense, wet, lowland forest on the Atlantic slope; alt. 0-400 m elevation; occasionally on limestone.Description
This Chamaedorea produces a slender, solitary stem to 4.5 m. (15 ft.) tall, which holds a small crown of pinnate leaves with broad leaflets. The bright orange-red clusters of fruit are highly attractive. It is generally similar to C. pinnatifrons but can easily be separated by its kidney-shaped fruit.
Habit: solitary, slender, erect, 1.5-4.5 m tall. Stem: 1.5-2.5 cm in diam., smooth, green, ringed, internodes 5-15 cm long. Leaves: 3-5 per crown, pinnate, dull dark green above, glossy green below; sheaths 18 cm long, tubular, obliquely open apically and there whitish when fresh and green longitudinally striate-nerved; petiole 15-29 cm long, lightly grooved and green above, rounded and pale yellow below; rachis 45-65 cm long, angled and green above, rounded below with a pale yellow or whitish band extending onto the sheath; pinnae 6-8 on each side of rachis, lower central ones longest, these 23-33 x 5-6.5 cm, uppermost pinnae slightly broader, 14-16 cm long on upper margin, 5-nerved,lower pinnae smaller, narrowly rhombic-sigmoid, regularly spaced and remote except lower 2-3 ± closer, acuminate, narrowed basally, prominent midrib and submarginal primary nerves shining and slightly keeled toward base above and pale and shining below, 4-5 slightly less prominent secondaries on each side of midrib, tertiaries fine and numerous. Inflorescences: inter- or infrafoliar, solitary; peduncles 40-60 cm long, 1.5 cm wide at base, 6-9 mm wide at apex, erect and greenish yellow or whitish in flower, arching and downward curving slightly and red-orange in fruit; bracts 5-6, tubular, appressed, fibrous, brownish in flower,
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often fallen away in fruit, longitudinally striate-nerved, acuminate, slender, uppermost exceeding peduncle. Staminate with rachis 4-7 cm long, green; rachillae 15-20 or more, these 15-20 cm long, slender, pendulous, light green. Pistillate erect in flower, nodding in fruit; rachis 6-10 cm long, green in flower, red-orange in fruit; rachillae 10-25, these 9-14 cm long, slender and ascending but drooping when heavily laden with fruits, yellow-green in flower, red-orange in fruit. Flowers: Staminate in rather dense spirals, 2 mm high, yellowish, scarcely sunken; calyx 0.5 mm high, shallowly lobed; petals valvate, connate apically and basally and apically adnate to pistillode and corolla opening by lateral slits, prominently nerved when dry; stamens with short filaments, anthers not bifid apically; pistillode longitudinally 3-angled, truncate apically. Pistillate in lax spirals, 2-3 x 2.5 mm, globose, greenish yellow, scarcely sunken; calyx 0.75-1 x 2-2.5 mm, lobed, yellowish, sepals connate in basal 1/2-2/3 broadly rounded apically; petals 2.5 x 2.5 mm, imbricate nearly to apex, acute, strongly nerved when dry; staminodes not seen; pistil 2-3 x 2 mm, subglobose, yellow, styles short or lacking, stigma lobes short, recurved, clear colored. Fruits: 10 x 5 mm, subreniform or sometimes nearly bilobed or sickle-shaped, yellow to bright orange-red when soft ripe but ageing to dark brown when fully ripe; abortive carpels adhering to fruit at maturity. (Hodel, D.R. 1992)/Palmweb. Editing by edric. Burret (1933a) described and named C. neurochlamys from material that Tuerckheim collected near Cubilguitz, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala in 1915. It is fairly common in Belize and known there as "monkey-tail." Because of its red, subreniform fruit it has been confused in cultivation with C. concolor (= C. pinnatifrons) and the elusive C. falcifera. The Mexican forms of C. pinnatifrons (referred to as C. concolor) have only recently been introduced to cultivation although material of C. pinnatifrons from Venezuela has been in gardens and collections since the middle 1970s. As mentioned earlier, C. falcifera is known only from the type and a few collections and is not, at least in its typical form, in cultivation. Future work may, in fact, show it to be nothing more than a variant of C. neurochlamys. Differences among these three species are summarized below: C. falcifera 3-4 pinnae/side; fruit falciform; leaf sheath pale or only briefly white at apex.?C. pinnatifrons 1-9 pinnae/side; fruit globose; leaf sheath pale or only briefly white at apex.? C. neurochlamys 7-8 pinnae/side; fruit subreniform; leaf sheath distinctly white at apex. Stevenson (1974) discussed C. concolor in south Horida but based on his description of the plants as having 5-7 pinnae on each side of the rachis, it seems probable that the species in question is C. neurochlamys. Vegetatively, C. neurochlamys is somewhat similar to the variable and widely cultivated C. oblongata. The green apex ofthe leafsheath, free and spreading staminate petals, and black fruits distinguish C. oblongata. Krempin (1990, p. 94) discussed and illustrated C. neurochlamys but the description and photograph depict C. tepejilote. Chamaedorea neurochlamys is a handsome and attractive palm but is especially striking when bearing infructescences heavily laden with bright orange or red fruits. It is cultivated in Hawaii, California, Florida, and, perhaps, elsewhere. In 1977, the Seed Bank of the International Palm Society and the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California distributed seeds of C. neurochlamys erroneously as C. falcifera from collections made by the latter institution in Belize. (Hodel, D.R. 1992)/Palmweb. |
Culture
Comments and Curiosities
Chamaedorea are dioecious, male, and female flowers, on separate plants.
Etymology: From the Greek chlamys meaning covering and neuro meaning nerved; however, Burret did not specify its application.
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).
Hodel, D.R.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.