| Field notes | Quichua: "Shiquita". A solitary tree on terra firme. The base with an inverted cone of ca 25 adventitious roots, longest one to ca 2 m long, thickest one to 8 or 9 cm in diam, with spines. Trunk 18 m long, 20 cm in diam at the base, grey, smooth. Crown on a conspicuous green crownshaft, 7 leaves; petiole ca 40 cm long, slightly channeled at the base, round below the blade; blade 190 x100 cm, with 15 pinnae one each side, the pinnae fanshapedly divided with the base twisted on the rachis so the blade is 3-dimensional, the tips of the fansegments soft and bending a little down, which makes this plant recognisable from the distance even if superficially similar to Iriartea (no. 4631). Inflorescences 3 expanded and in fruiting stage, inserted at the 3 nodes just below the crownshaft; peduncle 25 cm long, green, with 6 scars from spathes, which have all fallen off; rachis 10 cm long, green, with 13 branches, which are all simple and unbranched, the longest one to ca 50 cm long. Unexpanded inflorescence extracted from the lower leafsheat, enclosed in 5 spathes, with male flowers allmost mature, and female flowers on the same branches, but much smaller and hidden among the males ones. Uses: The trunk of this palm is used in house construction, even if not as highly appreciated as those of Iriartea (no. 4632). They are used for corner poles or split up and made into soft flexible planks on floors and walls. Silverio Jipa does not eat the palmhart of this (but others may?). Duplicates: NY, QCA, AAU, K, QCNE, Latinreco. |
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