Iriartella H.Wendl., Bonplandia (Hannover) 8: 103 (1860)

Primary tabs

https://media.e-taxonomy.eu/palmae/photos/palm_tc_102679_4.jpg

Distribution

Map uses TDWG level 3 distributions (https://github.com/tdwg/wgsrpd)
Brazil North present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Colombia present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Guyana present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Peru present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Venezuela present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Two species limited to the Amazonian drainage of Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Discussion

  • Similarities to Podococcus are of a superficial nature only. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Diagnosis

  • Solitary or clustered, small pinnate-leaved palms of the forest undergrowth in the Amazon basin, distinctive in the undivided praemorse rhomboid leaflets, inflorescence branched to one order only and seed with apical embryo. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Biology And Ecology

  • Undergrowth palms of lowland tropical rain forests below 1000 m elevation. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Common Name

  • Palma de cerpatana (Iriartella setigera). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Etymology

  • Combines palm generic name Iriartea with the dimitutive suffix -ella: little Iriartea. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Uses

  • An infusion of leaf bases is used medicinally. Stems are hollowed out and used for the exterior tube of blow guns. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Description

  • Usually clustered, slender, lightly armed, pleonanthic, monoecious palms. Stem erect, conspicuously ringed with leaf scars, stilt roots well developed at the base, internodes densely covered in scales, hairs, and sometimes sharp black bristles, becoming smooth in age. Leaves few, pinnate, neatly abscising; sheaths forming a crownshaft, sparsely to densely armed with solitary or clustered black bristles and abundant scales and hairs, sometimes with a short ligule; petiole well developed, ± rounded in cross-section; armed like the sheath; rachis adaxially angled, abaxially flattened, densely hairy; leaflets regularly arranged, distant, rhombic to trapezoidal, upper margins irregularly lobed and praemorse, distal pair of leaflets truncate, joined along the rachis, ribs numerous, conspicuous abaxially, ± parallel, scaly or rough hairy abaxially, sometimes also adaxially, transverse veinlets not evident. Inflorescences solitary, interfoliar at first, becoming infrafoliar in fruit, branching to 1 order, protandrous; peduncle elongate, flattened, elliptic in cross-section; prophyll inserted near the base, tubular, 2-keeled, membranous, included in the leaf sheath, eventually disintegrating; peduncular bracts 3–5, exceeding the prophyll, similar but not 2-keeled, the proximal included within the leaf sheath, the distal exposed; rachis shorter than the peduncle, bearing minute triangular, incomplete, spirally arranged bracts each subtending a rachilla; rachillae slender, 3 to ca. 30, short to moderately long, bearing spirally arranged, close, slightly sunken triads throughout except at the very tip where bearing paired or solitary staminate flowers, rachilla bracts not evident. Staminate flowers borne in a close pair distal to the pistillate, symmetrical; sepals 3, rounded, keeled, distinct, imbricate or basally connate, both connate and distinct sepals found in different collections of Iriartella setigera; petals 3, distinct, oblong, valvate, about 3 times the length of the sepals; stamens 6, filaments very short, broad, fleshy, anthers oblong, basifixed, latrorse; pistillode absent. Pollen ellipsoidal, bi-symmetric; aperture comprising two parallel distal sulci, narrowly separated by an ectexinous bridge; ectexine, tectate, coarsely perforate, tectum between sulci and aperture margins similar or slightly less perforate; infratectum columellate; longest axis 22–26 µm; post-meiotic tetrads tetrahedral [2/2]. Pistillate flowers smaller than the staminate; sepals 3, distinct, broad, imbricate or basally connate, splitting into 3 in fruit; petals 3, imbricate basally with short triangular, valvate tips; staminodes 6, minute, tooth-like; ovary globular, trilocular, triovulate, tipped with 3 short, recurved stigmas, ovule form unknown. Fruit usually developing from 1 carpel, scarlet, orange, or brownish, ellipsoidal, stigmatic and carpellary remains basal; epicarp smooth, mesocarp slightly fleshy with few longitudinal fibres, endocarp thin. Seed ellipsoidal, attached basally, with loosely branched raphe and tannin network, endosperm homogeneous; embryo apical. Germination adjacent-ligular; eophyll shallowly bifid. Cytology unknown. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Anatomy

  • Not studied. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Fossil record

  • No generic records found. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Relationships

  • The mononophyly of Iriartella has not been tested. The relationships among the genera of Iriarteeae have been investigated in three studies that include all genera (Henderson 1990, Asmussen et al. 2006, Baker et al. in review) to which readers are referred. There is no agreement between the results of these studies. Only one sister relationship, between Iriartella and Wettinia, is supported by bootstrap analysis (Asmussen et al. 2006). New analyses are required to elucidate this group. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Taxonomic accounts

  • Henderson (1990). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Bibliography

    A. Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms
    B. World Checklist of Arecaceae