Chamaedorea oblongata
Chamaedorea (kahm-eh-doh-REH-ah) oblongata (ob-long-GAH-tah) | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
Chamaedorea oblongata is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, and Nicaragua. MEXICO. Campeche. Chiapas. Oaxaca. Quintana Roo. Tabasco. Veracruz. GUATEMALA. Alta Verapaz. Izabal. Peten. BELIZE. Belize. Cayo. HONDURAS. Atlantida. Cortes. NICARAGUA. Jinotega. Matagalpa. Moist or wet lowland forest on the Atlantic slope; alt. to 350 m elevation; often on limestone.Description
Habit: solitary, erect, occasionally decumbent, 1-3 m tall. Stem: 1-2.5 cm in diam., smooth, green, ringed, internodes 4-15 cm long. Leaves: 3-8 per crown, erect-spreading, pinnate; sheath 15-20 cm long, tubular, obliquely open apically, prominently costate; petiole 15-30 cm long, slightly grooved and green above, rounded and pale below; rachis 30-60 cm long, angled and green above, rounded and with a distinct yellow band below extending onto sheath; pinnae 5-9 on each side of rachis, middle ones 17-40 x 3.5-10 cm, variable in shape, lanceolate to rhombic-Ianceolate to oblong-trapezoid, sigmoid, mostly alternate, ± leathery, thick, regularly disposed, narrowly and caudately long-acuminate or attenuate-acuminate, oblique basally, deep green, glossy above, paler below, a midrib and 2 sub-marginal primary nerves, these not keeled and ± obscure above, yellowish and shining below, 3 secondaries on each side of midrib, these inconspicuous as are numerous and fine tertiaries, apical pinnae shorter than middle ones and generally narrower. Inflorescences: infrafoliar, erect-spreading, 20-70 cm long; peduncles 10-40 cm long, green in flower, reddish orange in fruit; bracts 5-7, tubular, brown in flower, thin, fibrous, acute-acuminate, bifid, longitudinally striate-nerved, uppermost equalling peduncle; rachis 2.5-12 cm long, green in flower, reddish orange in fruit. Staminate with 9-25 or more rachillae, these to 30 cm long, 2-3 mm in diam., pendulous, slightly angled, green in flower. Pistillate with 6-20 or more rachillae, these 9-16 cm long, ± stiff, ascending, spreading, 2 mm in diam., green in flower, swollen and reddish orange in fruit. Flowers: Staminate in dense spirals, 3-4 x 3-4.5 mm, ovoid to obovoid, greenish drying black, superficial or slightly sunken; calyx 0.5-1 x 2 mm, lobed, green, sepals connate in basal 1/2, broadly rounded to acute apically; petals 3-4 x 1.5-2 mm, valvate, free to nearly base and there connate briefly, erect then spreading to reflexed, acute, tips slightly recurved, thin, slightly transparent; stamens 1.5-2 mm long, spreading, filaments 0.75-1 mm long, adnate basally with petals, green, anthers 1 mm long, longer than filaments and briefly bifid apically, long-oblong, yellow; pistillode 2.5-3 mm high, columnar, slightly lobed apically, light green. Pistillate in loose spirals, 2 x 2.5-3 mm, depressed-globose, greenish yellow drying black, scarcely sunken; calyx 0.5-1 x 22.5 mm, deeply lobed, sepals connate in basal 1/3, broadly rounded to acute apically; petals 2.5 x 2-2.5, broadly ovate, imbricate nearly to apex, connate basally briefly, thin, ± straight or acute, slightly fleshy, transparent, brown-margined, drying dark brown in fruit with abortive carpel adherent to smallest petal; staminodes 3, triangular; pistil 1.75-2 x 2 mm, depressed-globose, green, styles lacking, stigma lobes separated, sessile, angular. Fruits: 8-14 x 6-8 mm, variable in shape, ovoid-ellipsoid or sometimes falciform or slightly lunate, attenuate at each end, or ± globose, shining black at maturity, epicarp thin, not transparent, mesocarp slightly fleshy, green, mucilaginous, aromatic, dense, fibrous; seeds 7-11 x 5-6 mm, ellipsoid. (Hodel, D.R. 1992)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.
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Martius (1837) described and named C. oblongata from material that Schiede collected in Mexico in the 1830s. Linden introduced it in 1839 from Mexico and Guatemala to European gardens and collections where it was often grown under the names C. lunata or C. coral/ina. Guillaumin (1923b) reported C. lunata as having been cultivated at the Musee de Paris in France since 1839. As the numerous horticultural names imply, C. oblongata was widely cultivated in European gardens and collections and this partly due to its relative ease of culture. The epithets used in horticulture, corallina and corallocarpa, are usually in reference to red fruit. However, to the best of my knowledge and after reviewing the numerous horticultural accounts and illustrations accompanying these names, I feel that these epithets refer to C. oblongata (because of the red fruiting rachillae) and not other red-fruited Chamaedorea species, like C. pinnatifrons or species of subgenus Morenia. Chamaedorea oblongata exhibits a great deal of variability in shape ofleafand of fruit over its rather wide range. Leaf shapes can be lanceolate and flat to broadly rhombic or trapezoid and cupped downward. Fruits can be nearly globose to ellipsoid or slightly lunate. C. oblongata is one ofthe most commonly cultivated species and is found in collections and gardens wherever the genus is grown. It is handsome in foliage because of the thick, leathery, lustrous, shiny leaves.? The names of three other species of similar habit, C. neurochlamys, C. schiedeana, and C. concolor (= C. pinnatifrons) have been erroneously applied to material of C. oblongata in cultivation. In fact, Krempin (1990, p. 90) illustrated C. oblongata but erroneously captioned the photograph as C. concolor. Staminate flowers with the petals free and spreading rather than connate apically and adnate to the pistillode easily distinguish C. oblongata. Additional differences between C. oblongata and these three other species are summarized below (pinnae/side texture, leaf sheath, fruits): C. oblongata 5-9 thick, apex green, black C. neurochlamys 7-8 medium, apex white, reddish C. schiedeana 10-14 thin, apex green, black C. pinnatifrons 2-9 thin, apex white, red-orange Of the four, C. oblongata is much more durable and is resistant to mites. (Hodel, D.R. 1992) |
Culture
Warm, sheltered and moist. Suitable even for a warm temperate climate.
Comments and Curiosities
Chamaedorea are dioecious, male, and female flowers, on separate plants.
Etymology: From the Latin oblongus meaning oblong, in reference to the shape of the fruits or pinnae.
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.