| Field notes | Solitary palm tree, about 8 m tall, sterile. Flowering specimens said to reach 20 m. Stem diam. approx. 40 cm. Number of leaves in crown 4. Leaf base tubular, splitting and desintegrating in fibrous mesh. Petiole about 2 m long, 6 cm across at base, grooved adaxially on proximal 50-55 cm, greenish grey, with ferrugenuous lepidote hairs distributed in a characteristic undulating pattern, lending a snake skin like appearance to the surface, distal portion terete and covered by grey and black crustaceous lichens. Rachis 489 cm long, 5 cm wide at the basis, abaxially rounded, adaxially with 3 cm wide flat face at the proximal end, flanked by two furrows, the flat face gradually narrowing to sharp carinae about 155 cm from lowermost leaflets and from this point flanked by two flat faces. Leaf branched to 2'nd order. Distance between secondary rachillae on the same side, 21 cm basally and 17 cm on the primary rachis. Number of secondary rachillae 2 x 29, held in 4 planes with ca. 60 degrees in between. Basalmost secondary rachis 18 cm long, with 2 x 3 +1 leaflets, the third from the base 89 cm long with 2 x 11 + 1 pinnae, the 9th from the base lomgest, 117 cm long and bearing 2 x 14 + 1 pinnae. Pinnae oppposite to subopposite. |
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