| Field notes | Solitary palm tree, basally with cone of ca. 70 shiny, black adventitious roots (stilt roots), the longest up to 3.5 m long and 4 cm in diam., lentiscels spiny. Stem about 29 m tall, 25 cm in diam. at the base, slightly ventricose, covered by light gray crustaceous lichens. Leaves only slightly reflexed. Crownshaft 1.4 m long, 15 cm in diam. basally, 19 cm at the middle and 22 cm diatally. Leaf sheath 1.7 m long split to about the middle, dark brown not shiny, entire marginally. Petiole 25 cm long, ridged above (adaxially). Blade about 6 m long. Number of pinnae groups 2 X 19. One pinnae group composed of ca. 10 pinnae, arranged like in a fan and longitudinally folded, green above (adaxially), and light with ferrugineous striae below (abaxially). Rachis covered by dense ferrugenous pubescence like velvet. Inflorescence infrafoliar, paniculate with spirally arranged rachillae. Peduncle 35 cm long. Flowers sessile. Fruit 1.5 cm in diam. Nom. vern.: Bovin-chi (Cayapa), Pambil (Castellano) Use: The trunk is split open and the pith removed. The peripheral very hard tissues server as boards used for floors or for making blowgun pipes. |
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