Chamaedorea deneversiana Grayum & Hodel, Principes 35: 133 (1991)

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Distribution

Central America and N Ecuador (until now not recorded in between) in premontane wet and pluvial forest, at 500-1600m elevation. (Borchsenius F., Borgtoft-Pedersen H. and Baslev H. 1998. Manual to the Palms of Ecuador. AAU Reports 37. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Aarhus, Denmark in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Catalica del Ecuador)A

PANAMA. San Blas. Vergaguas. ECUADOR. Carchi. Cotopaxi. Pichincha. COSTA RICA? (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)B

Discussion

  • C. deneversiana is known from only a few collections from wet forests in Panama and Ecuador. It bears a resemblance to C. amabilis, a species occurring in similar habitats from Costa Rica to the Choco region of Colombia. In fact, the two species are very similar vegetatively, the former appearing as a giant-leaved form of the latter. However, in addition to being a smaller palm with smaller leaves and in a different subgenus, C. amabilis has spicate or infrequently furcate pistillate inflorescences and erect staminate rachillae. C. deneversiana may also appear similar to bifid-leaved forms of C. murriensis from Colombia. Leaf blades of the two are about the same size but the latter has a greater number of rachillae (staminate: 14 vs. 10; pistillate 11-14 vs. 4-6) and is in a different subgenus.
    The limited distribution of C. deneversiana may be more apparent than real. A collection from western Costa Rica, Grayum et al. 5000, matches up very well with C. deneversiana and is tentatively referred here, differing only slightly in the number of rachillae and by its pinnate leaves. However, the leaves are nearly bifid, having large and dominant terminal lobes and only a pair ofsmall, narrow basal pinnae.? (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)B

Biology And Ecology

  • Wet forest on the Atlantic slope; to 850 m elevation. (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)B

Etymology

  • Honors Gregory C. de Nevers, collector of the type and most of the known specimens of this species.

Description

  • Understorey palm. Stem to 2 m tall, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter, often with adventitious roots on the proximal nodes. Leaves erect, bluish metallic green; blade simple 60-80 cm long, 25-30 cm wide. Inflorescences one per node, infrafoliar, often borne close to the base of the stem, 35-40 cm long; branches 5-10, to 10 cm long, those of female inflorescences becoming red in fruit. Fruits elliptic, 10-15 mm long, black. (Borchsenius F., Borgtoft-Pedersen H. and Baslev H. 1998. Manual to the Palms of Ecuador. AAU Reports 37. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Aarhus, Denmark in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Catalica del Ecuador)A
  • Habit: solitary, decumbent to erect, 1.5-3 m tall. Stem: 1.3-1.6 cm diam., smooth, green, ringed, internodes 5-12 cm long, rooting along its length Leaves: 4, spreading, bifid, rarely pinnate; sheath 19-26 cm long, obliquely open apically, green; petiole 15-45 cm long, ± flat and green above, rounded, rough, and gray-green below; rachis 35-60 cm long, angled and gray-green above, rounded, rough, and gray-green below, yellowish below when dry; blade 50-80 x 12-25 cm, oblong, incised apically 1/5-1/4 its length, bright glossy green, margins coarsely toothed toward apex, rarely with few small basal pinnae, 20-24 primary nerves on each side of rachis, these sharply angled above, slender, sigmoid, prominent below, ± erose-margined. Inflorescences: infrafoliar, borne well below the leaves. Staminate with peduncle 40 cm long, erect; bracts 6; rachis 5 cm long, slightly flexuous; rachillae 10, these 25-33 cm long, drooping. Pistillate with peduncle 18-60 cm long, erect; bracts 5-6; rachis 2-3 cm long, slightly flexuous, orange in fruit; rachillae 3-6, these 10-30 cm long, drooping and yellow to orange in fruit. Flowers: Staminate 1.1-1.3 x 1.8-1.9 mm; calyx 0.3-0.4 mm high, lobed, sepals connate in basal 1/2; petals valvate in bud, apparently free at anthesis, nerveless or obscurely nerved; stamens with anthers 0.6 mm long, ± reniform; pistillode 0.4 mm high, stout, anvil-shaped. Pistillate 2.2-2.5 mm long, suburceolate; calyx 0.5-0.6 x 2.5-2.8 mm, lobed, nerved, sepals connate and/or imbricate basally; petals obscurely nerved externally, prominently 15-nerved within, constricted toward base where connate in a tube 0.2-0.3 mm high; staminodes lacking; pistil 1.5-1.9 mm long, styles short, stigma lobes separated. Fruits: 6.8-7.5 x 5.6-5.8 mm, broadly ellipsoid, green to yellow (presumably immature). (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)B

Materials Examined

  • COSTA RICA. Guanacaste: Grayum 5000 (CR, MO). ECUADOR. Carchi: Madison 7062 (BH). Cotopaxi: Sparre 17178 (S). Pichincha: Sparre 15188 (S). PANAMA. San Blas: de Nevers 5553B, 6292 (MO). Veraguas: Hodel 1114 (BH, PMA); Mori 5352 (MO). (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)B

Bibliography

    A. Borchsenius F., Borgtoft-Pedersen H. and Baslev H. 1998. Manual to the Palms of Ecuador. AAU Reports 37. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Aarhus, Denmark in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Catalica del Ecuador
    B. Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.