| Field notes | Cultivated pistillate palm about 17 years old according to villagers, 5.5-6 m tall, stem circumference about 140 cm incl. the leaf bases (about 60 excluding the leaf bases), distance between nodes 8-9 cm, width of scars 1.2-1.3 cm. Crown of 22 leaves. Description of one leaf selected as typical: leaf base short about 21 cm wide at the base, dark black, glossy and smooth, marginally slightly desintegrating in coarse, strong, black fibres, with sharp edges, transition to petiole gradual and indistinct, length of petiole and leaf base combined about 165 cm. Petiole uniform in width, about 5 cm at the mid portion, narrowing towards the distal end to 4-5 cm, dark green with scattered brown spots, subterete in CS, shallowly channeled abaxially for almost the entire length, carinae outlined in black and very sharp. Blade with about 79 folds, mid portion of blade 176 cm long (hastula to margin), basal portion 124 cm (hastula to margin), longest diameter about 296 cm. Number of inflorescences 13, all past anthesis except for the one at anthesis collected for specimen. Peduncle 117 cm long, bright dark green to yellowish green or brown distally, covered with dense brown ramenta increasing in density towards rachis, terete to ovate in cross section, about 2.5 cm wide at the middle, wider at the rachilla bearing nodes. Prophyll fused to to the basis of the peduncle, 50 cm long by 11 cm wide, dark reddish brown, with coarse longitudinal fibres, particularly distinct towards the proximal part strongly adherent to the peduncle. Number of peduncular (PD) bracts 5, all overlapping, pale yellow where enclosed, bright green where exposed. First PD bract 63 cm long, 7.5 cm wide at the middle. Second PD bract 70 cm long, 8 cm wide at the middle. PD bracts 3,4, and 5 collected all bright green and covered by dense brown and black markings, tough, 7.5-8 cm at the widest part, margin sinuous chartaceous, light brown, eventually desintegrating slightly in longitudinal fibres. Rachis 40 cm long, 5-6 cm wide. Number of flower clusters per rachis 16, five persistent, the remainin shed, each cluster composed of 4-6 flowers. Flowers bright green to yellow at maturity, perianth composed of two 3-merous whorls, aborted flowers with persistent perianth segments attached in the pit after abscission of the gynoecium, pits 4 cm in diam., bright yellow on the inside. Flowers with exudate from the stigmatic slits at anthesis. Additional material: photos, video recordings. Nom. vern.: "Beiwof" (Apau talkplace). |
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