| Field notes | Trunk solitary, base in 1.5 m wide and 50 cm high mound of organic matter and roots, 18 m tall, 30 cm diam. at base, 24 cm diam. at 11 m, 18 cm diam. at apex, light brown, spiny, in cross-section with 5 cm peripheral ring of dense black fibres and a central portion of softer white parenchyma; internodes 25 cm long with few flat black 5 cm long spines pointing down. Leaves 11, erect, cleanly adscissing at the base; petiole not differentiated from sheath, encircling stem at the base, 3 m long, 40 cm wide near base, narrowing to 12 cm wide 70 cm from the base and 3.5 cm wide below rachis, round below, concave above, green, fibrous at margins, smooth above, below covered with 10 cm long flattened spines and a white tomentum; rachis 350 cm long, round below, triangular above with concave sides, with same spines and tomentum as petiole, but spines smaller and more numerous; pinnae 150 per side, paripinnate, evenly spaced, densely inserted, pointing in various directions, basal pinnae 125 cm long, 1.3 cm at widest point, at middle pinnae 125 cm long and 5 cm wide at widest point, apical pinnae 45 cm long and 1.5 cm at widest point, glossy dark green above, grey-green below. Inflorescence infrafoliar, erect; prophyll inserted at base of peduncle, 85 cm long, 22 cm wide at base, gradually tapering to blunt tip, bicarinate, dorsoventrally compressed, persistent, with few spines adaxially, abaxially densely covered with soft 1 cm long spines and fewer 3 cm long brown spines; peduncular bract inserted 110 cm from base of peduncle, deciduous, round in cross-section, 160 cm long, 20 cm wide, 5 mm thick, lanceolate, apex acute, inside light mauve, outside green, longitudinally fissured with light cover of soft 1 cm spines and fewer 4 cm brown spines, these denser at apes; peduncle 120 cm long, slightly dorsoventrally compressed, 7 cm wide at base, 5.5 cm at apex, green with waxy covering and many upward pointing 3 cm long spines; rachis 110 cm long, 5 cm wide at base, 1 cm wide at apex, green with mealy tomentum, unarmed except sparsely on adaxialy side; rachillae 220, inbranched, basal ones 35 cm long, apical ones 23 cm long, basally without flowers for 12 cm. Flowers inserted in a triad of a central pistillate and 2 lateral staminate ones; pistillate flowers inserted in 8 mm cupule; style 5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide; stigma 5 mm long; calyx 12 mm in diam., irregularly spherical; two lateral staminate flowers with 8 mm long pedical and 5 mm long bud; above triad and area of rachillae 1 cm long without flowers, then all staminate with mouve sepals, these still in bud (protogynous?). Dupl: AAU, QCA, ACNE. |
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