Welfia Regia

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Welfia (well-FEE-ah)
Regia (reh-JEE-ah)
Wr2008-05-05 10-21-46.jpg
Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Welfia (well-FEE-ah)
Species:
Regia (reh-JEE-ah)
Synonyms
Welfia georgii
Native Continent
America
America.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Amargo Palm, Corozo, Conga, palma conga, palma tigre.

Habitat and Distribution

Welfia regia is a common subcanopy palm that is abundant in Costa Rican
Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station, Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.
lowlands and tropical wet forests. In La Selva, Costa Rica it has been seen to reach densities of 54 adults/ha. On our trip to Costa Rica we saw these palms everywhere! The trails at La Selva Biological Station contained an abundance of these palms. In fact, when we asked our tour guide, Kenneth, where we could find them, he immediately turned around and pointed to a young red-colored W. regia standing beside us. Just a few steps further into the forest there was a full grown palm. See link. (tropicalbiology.net)

Description

Palm tree that reaches from 5 to 20 m in height. Single trunk of reddish brown color with numerous ring shaped scarrings. Ramified inflorescence with yellowish white flowers, oval fruits that turn reddish brown when ripe. (Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst.)

Early on, W. regia develops as a rosette, establishing an axis below the ground of sufficient diameter to support the tree in maturity. Later growth is vertical and does not involve any more growth in diameter. Seedlings can be found from major light gaps to full canopy coverage, however those seedlings found in high-light environments grow more rapidly. The young palms are typically red in color, whereas the older palms have green leaves. These trees are reproductive between 6 to 20 meters in height and don't usually exceed 20 meters. Growth is generally linear with respect to size. The number of years it takes for the tree to achieve maximum height, 20 meters, is 31 years for the fastest growing trees and up to 80 years for the slow growing trees. (tropicalbiology.net) Editing by edric.


Detailed Scientific Description

Palm; with stems erect, strong, solitary, up to 20 m high and 30 cm in diameter, with distant scars; plants monoecious . Leaves large, regularly pinnate, upright and arching apically 3-8 m long; pinnae 150, almost opposite, broadly lanceolate, 50-75 (-100) cm long, 3.5-6 (-11) cm wide, with numerous strong ribs, but no distinct midrib, narrowly pointed, spine relatively flat adaxially, grooved along the insertion of the pinnae, rounded abaxially; pod heavy, somewhat ribbed, becoming fibrous margins, petiole up to 100 cm long, initially tomentose, rounded abaxially, adaxially deeply concave. inflorescences pendulous infrafoliar and bottom of the pods , peduncle short, strong, slightly flattened, recurved, male flowers sessile , embraced by two bracts , sepals keeled, petals connate, valvate wolves, stamens 27-42; pistillate flowers with free sepals, imbricate, keeled, 2/3 petals connate and adnate to staminodial length tube, deltoid wolves, valvate, staminodes 15-16 2/3 of its length connate into a tube. Fruits oblong-ellipsoid slightly laterally compressed, 3.5-4.5 cm long and 1.7 cm wide, exocarp smooth, mesocarp thin fibers, parallel, endocarp thin, seed 1 ellipsoid. (From the Spanish)

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10a

Comments and Curiosities

read more

Etymology: generic name was named after the House of Welf (Guelf or Guelph, Italian Guelpho), dynasty of German nobles and rulers in Italy and Central Europe in the Middle Ages, later including Welfs Hanoverian, who became rulers of Britain. Epithet (regia) Latin meaning "royal, kingly".

Uses: Leaves are used to make roofs for houses. The trunk is used as pillars in houses close to the coast due to its high resistance to salt water. (Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst.)

Welfia regia can be harvested for palmito, wood and/or thatch. Palmito is edible palm heart that can be added to different dishes and the wood from the palm can be used to build a variety of things. In Costa Rica, however, W. regia has been recognized as the most important palm for thatch because it is the only native palm that is or has been "actively" managed. Active management involves carefully maintaining the existing palms to allow for future economic profit from them. For instance, if a forest is being cleared to make a pasture, the palms will be left standing and only a few of their leaves will be utilized at a time in order to maintain the integrity of the palm supply. The thatch acquired from these trees is often used to build roofing that can provide shelter from the heavy rains typical of this area. (tropicalbiology.net)

The continued growth of these palms throughout the rainforest is contingent upon the spreading of their seeds. The seeds are typically dispersed by a variety of larger birds and arboreal and terrestrial mammals. The peccaries often eat the fruit of the palm, and then once the seeds pass through their digestive tracts they make their way back into the soil of the rainforest. While in Costa Rica, we often came across the tracks of peccaries, clustered about fallen fruit from this palm. (tropicalbiology.net)

An attractive, large palm with fabulous dark red new leaves and a huge, shuttlecock-like crown, the Amargo Palm is distributed in the Andes from Honduras southwards to Ecuador in tropical areas of high rainfall, and requires such in cultivation. The seeds, which are carried on curious, massive and thick-branched infructescences. Still very rare in cultivation. (RPS.com)

"Fantastic palm tall (60') palm from central to South America, where it grows in the wet, lowland to mountain forests. It has a wonderfully ornamental ringed trunk of red-brown alternating with creme, and topped with a huge crown of upright, long leaves and well-spaced, pendant, bright-green, ribbed leaflets that are so shiny they look like plastic. New leaves are an incredibly maroon to cherry red and slowly fade to that fantastic lime green color. This is a wonderful specimen palm for the wet, tropical yard, as long as it's in some shade while still trying to form a trunk (pretty slow palm)." (Geoff Stein)



  • IMAGE GALLERY

  • Bocas Del Toro, Panama. Photo by Rolando Perez & Richard Condit.

  • Altos De Pacora, Panama. Photo by Rolando Pérez.

  • Altos De Pacora, Panama. Photo by Rolando Pérez.

  • Altos De Pacora, Panama. Photo by Rolando Pérez.

  • Altos De Pacora, Panama. Photo by Rolando Pérez.

  • Altos De Pacora, Panama. Photo by Rolando Pérez.

  • Altos De Pacora, Panama. Photo by Rolando Pérez.

  • In habitat. Photo-Rare Palm Seeds.com

  • In habitat. Photo-Rare Palm Seeds.com

  • In habitat. Photo-Rare Palm Seeds.com

  • Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Barry Hammel, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Costa Rica.

  • Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Barry Hammel, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Costa Rica.

  • Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Reinaldo aguilar, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Costa Rica.

  • Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Reinaldo aguilar, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Costa Rica.

  • Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Reinaldo aguilar, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Costa Rica.

  • Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Reinaldo aguilar, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Costa Rica.

  • Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Reinaldo aguilar, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Costa Rica.

  • Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Reinaldo aguilar, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Costa Rica.

  • Costa Rica. Photo by Jeff Anderson (Jeff in Costa Rica).

  • Costa Rica. Photo by Jeff Anderson (Jeff in Costa Rica).

  • Costa Rica. Photo by Jeff Anderson (Jeff in Costa Rica).

  • Costa Rica. Photo by Jeff Anderson (Jeff in Costa Rica).

  • Costa Rica. Photo by Jeff Anderson (Jeff in Costa Rica).

  • Costa Rica. Photo by Jeff Anderson (Jeff in Costa Rica).

  • Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, Hilo, Hawaii.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station, Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station, Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • |Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad - INBio, Near the La Selva Biological Station Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo by Dr. Reinaldo Aguilar.

  • Peru. Photo by Dr. Jean-Christophe Pintaud/Palmweb.

  • Near La Selva, Colombia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.

  • Peru. Photo by Dr. Jean-Christophe Pintaud/Palmweb.

  • Amolfi. Photo by Dr. Andrew J. Henderson/Palmweb.

  • Near La Selva, Colombia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.

  • La Selva CR. Photo by Ruddy BENEZET.

  • La Selva CR. Photo by Ruddy BENEZET.

  • La Selva CR. Photo by Ruddy BENEZET.

  • La Selva CR. Photo by Ruddy BENEZET.

  • La Selva CR. Photo by Ruddy BENEZET.

  • Hawaii. Photo by Timothy Brian.

  • Hawaii. Photo by BGL.

  • Hawaii. Photo by BGL.

  • Hawaii. Photo by BGL.

  • Hawaii. Photo by BGL.

  • Ciudad Neily, Costa Rica. Photo by Jose Maria Cornelis.

  • Singapore Botanical Gardens. Photo by Tingtongthai.

  • Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Rain Forest Aerial Tram, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Quebrada González Ranger Station, Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. Photo by Ryan D. Gallivan.

  • Photo by Frank (Trópico).

  • Photo by Frank (Trópico).

  • Near the La Selva Biological Station, Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo-Providence College.

  • Near the La Selva Biological Station, Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo-Providence College.

  • Near the La Selva Biological Station, Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo-Providence College.

  • Near the La Selva Biological Station, Osa peninsula, Costa Rica. Photo-Providence College.

  • Photo by L.H. Bailey Hortorium.

  • Photo by L.H. Bailey Hortorium.

  • Photo-sciencephoto.com

  • Photo-sciencephoto.com

  • Costa Rica. Photo by H. Robert Wilson.

  • Costa Rica. Photo by H. Robert Wilson.

  • Costa Rica. Photo by H. Robert Wilson.

  • Photo-faculty.mdc.edu

  • Ciudad Neily, Costa Rica. Photo by Jose Maria Cornelis.

  • "In very acid soil (red lateritic) lots of rain 4500 mm a year. These palms grow close, 100 meters from the sea (Pacific), don't mind a bit of salty air...I remembered these photos I took on a trip to Puerto Jimenez. This one grows in full sun, but probably was in a forest before the road was made some 20 years ago". Photo by Jose Maria Cornelis.

  • "In very acid soil (red lateritic) lots of rain 4500 mm a year. These palms grow close, 100 meters from the sea (Pacific), don't mind a bit of salty air...I remembered these photos I took on a trip to Puerto Jimenez. This one grows in full sun, but probably was in a forest before the road was made some 20 years ago". Photo by Jose Maria Cornelis.

  • "In very acid soil (red lateritic) lots of rain 4500 mm a year. These palms grow close, 100 meters from the sea (Pacific), don't mind a bit of salty air...I remembered these photos I took on a trip to Puerto Jimenez. This one grows in full sun, but probably was in a forest before the road was made some 20 years ago". Photo by Jose Maria Cornelis.

  • La Plata - Colombia. Photo by Mauricio Moreira Caixeta.

  • La Plata - Colombia. Photo by Mauricio Moreira Caixeta.

  • La Plata - Colombia. Photo by Mauricio Moreira Caixeta.

  • La Plata - Colombia. Photo by Mauricio Moreira Caixeta.

  • COSTA RICA: Heredia:: Sarapiqui Estacion Biologica La Selva, 2005. Photo by Dr. F. A. Michelangeli.

External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos, edric.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos, edric.

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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