Bactris simplicifrons

Bactris (BAHK-triss) simplicifrons (sihm-PLIHS-ih-frohns)
Jenero Herrera, Peru. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Bactris (BAHK-triss) Species: simplicifrons (sihm-PLIHS-ih-frohns)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
America
Morphology
Habit: Solitary & clustering. Leaf type: Simple bifid.
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Brazil: maraja, ubim-mirim. Colombia: chontaduro de rana de rastrajo. jo-da-jime-ru (Huitoto), oo-ree-ñaw (Barasana). u-ma-chú-ku-su (Kofan). Guyana; parapi-balli. Peru; ceyacepan (Ameshua), chontilla, kamanchá (Mayna Jívaro), mashipongo, pijuaito, rotetenpar (Ameshua). Suriname: kiskismaka, yuyba. Venezuela; corocillo, cubarillo, San Pablo.

Habitat and Distribution

Common and widespread throughout the Amazon region and adjacent areas in

French Guiana. Photo-ti palm.fr

Colombia (Amazonas, Córdoba, Guainía, Vaupés), Venezuela (Amazonas, Bolívar), Trinidad and Tobago, the Guianas, Ecuador (Napo, Sucumbíos), Peru (Cusco, Huánuco, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Pasco, San Martfn, Ucayali), Brazil (Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Maranhão, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima), and Bolivia (Beni , La Paz, Pando); lowland forest on terra firme, but also in open, sandy areas at both low and high (10-1800) m elevations.

Description

Stems solitary or cespitose, 0.5-2 m tall, 0.3-1 cm in diam., erect or leaning, not spiny on internodes. Leaves 5-9 per crown; leaf spines absent except for apex of pinnae, or spines scattered, black, flattened, to 1.5 cm long, few to moderate on sheath and petiole; sheath 5-20 cm long, closed but not forming a crownshaft; ocrea to 2 cm long; petiole 5-26 cm long; rachis 8-25 cm long; blade typically simple and shaped like a whale's tail fin , the lobes 24-58 cm long, 1.5-15 cm wide, or oblanceolate, plicate, deeply bifid apically and cuneate basally, or leaf pinnate, the pinnae 2-6 (-20) per side, irregularly or regularly arranged, linear, linear-lanceolate or sigmoid, glabrous except for a few, small spines distally on margins, rarely sparsely and minutely spinulose or pilose abaxially; middle pinnae 10-33 x 1.5-15 cm. Inflorescences interfoliar but appearing infrafoliar because exserted through leaf sheath; peduncle 3-4 cm long, strongly recurved in fruit, not spiny; prophyll 3-7 cm long; peduncular bract 6-12 cm long, usually not spiny, glabrous, whitish or brownish tomentose, erect at anthesis and forming an angle of about 30° with stem; rachis 0-0.5 cm long; rachillae 1-2 (-3), 3-6 cm long, at anthes is pendulous, densely whitish brown-tomentose or almost glabrous; triads regularly arranged almost throughout rachilla(e); staminate flowers 3.5-4.5 mm long, deciduous; sepal lobes 1-1.5 mm long; petals 3-5 mm long; stamens 6; pistillode absent; pistillate flowers 2.5-5.5 mm long; calyx tubular, 2.5-5 mm long; corolla tubular, 2.5-5.5 mm long; staminodes absent; fruits 5-8 mm in diam., globose, rostrate, orange or red; mesocarp starchy; endocarp obovoid, longitudinally grooved, the pores equally spaced; endocarp fibers few or absent; fruiting perianth with deeply 3-lobed calyx as long as the deeply 3-lobed corolla, without staminodial ring. (Henderson, A.J., Bactris (Palmae) in Flora Neotropica Monographs 79. 2000)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Bactris simplicifrons is diagnosed by its 1-2 (-3) rachillae 3-6 cm long, pistillate flowers with equal calyx and corolla, and globose, orange or red fruits 5-8 mm diameter. Synonymy was established by Wessel Boer (1965, 1988) and Henderson (1995). Wessels Boer (1988) kept B. ulei separate from B. simplicifrons, based on the pubescence of the abaxial leaf surface. The blade of the type of B. ulei is sparsely and minutely spinulose abaxially, whereas Wessels Boer 2383 is pilose abaxially. Otherwise, both specimens are typical B. simplicifrons.

Culture

Grows best in a warm, sheltered, moist position.

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: Leaves are used for wrapping and packing materials. Occasionally leaves are used on the roofs of houses for thatching. The leaves are valued for their durability. These leaves are even sometimes taken off old houses to be reused in the construction of a new house, especially if the new living area does not supply these palms. Fruits and palm hearts are edible. Medicinal use: Used as a soporific (a drug or other agent that induces sleep). The fruits are used against fever.