| Field notes | On terra firme. Trunk lifted from the ground by app. 14 cylindrical proproots, each about 6 cm in diam, black and copiously provided with 7-8 mm long pointed spines. Trunk app. 15 cm diam basally and 11 cm below crownshaft, smooth, about 10 m long. Crown of 7 sprading fronds and one erect young unfolded leaf. Each leaf with an app. 140 cm long sheath, and a reflexed 150 cm long rachis, with 16 pinnae on each side, the basal ones simple, the central and apical divided, fan-shaped and twisted on the rachis so the frond becomes 3-dimensional. Inflorescences 6, inserted just below the crownshaft; peduncle erect and dropping to a 30 cm long rachis; once branched, with up to 12 to 1 m long braches with round yellow fruits. Seed eaten when fruit is still green, according to Sr. Huacatoca, CEPE, Añango. Trunk used for making floors. |
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