| Field notes | Subcanopy palm, about 10 m. Trunk 8 m, unarmed, white. Cf. 68 cm. Obscure leaf scars. 8 leaves in crown, pinnate, neatly abscising. Closed crown shaft, light green colour, 150 cm long and 30 cm wide. Petiole 30 cm long, rachis 450 cm, circular in traverse, 42 pinnae on each side, 5 cm apart, regularly inserted, wedge shaped. Central pinnae 100 cm long, 6 cm wide at base and 13 cm wide in the middle. Infructescence consists of 6 green-brown sausage like structures. 5-6 peduncular bracts. Vernacular name: Terén, Terena (Shuar). Uses: Leaves used as thatch and to fabricate brooms. Trunk used as posts in house construction and to fabricate spears, blow dart guns and temporary "knives". Heart is edible but said to be bitter tasting. |
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