Arecaceae
Chamaedorea

Chamaedorea castillo-montii Hodel

First published in Phytologia 68: 397 (1990)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Guatemala to Honduras. It is a subshrub and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Distribution
GUATEMALA. Izabal. Alta Verapaz.
General Description
Habit: solitary, briefly decumbent then erect to 1 m tall, often flowering when appearing stemless. Stem: 1.5-2.5 cm diam., creeping, with adventitious roots along its length, green, conspicuously ringed, basal portion often covered with persistent leaf sheaths, internodes 1.5-2 cm long. Leaves: 12-15, erect-spreading, bifid, less often variously pinnate; sheath 10-15 cm long, obliquely long-open apically, tubular only in basal 1/4, green, minutely white-spotted, longitudinally striate-nerved, margins becoming rough, brown; petiole to 30 cm long, channeled or flattened and green above, rounded and green below, minutely white-spotted; rachis to 20 cem long, angled and green above, pale green below; blade to 38 x 27 cm, incised apically to more than 1/2 its length, interior margins to 22 cm long, entire, exterior margins to 38 cm long, toothed, lobes acute-acuminate, 30 x 10 cm, diverging at 65 degrees, rich green above, paler below, 11-13 prominent primary nerves on each side of rachis, these conspicuously elevated, 2 less prominent secondaries between each pair of primaries, tertiaries numerous; or blade variously pinnate with 2-5 pinnae on each side of rachis, all except apical pair 20 x 1.5 cm, linear-lanceolate, falcate, acuminate, a prominent midrib flanked by less prominent primary nerves, apical pair ofpinnae very broad, more than twice as broad as others combined, 9-10 nerved. Inflorescences: interfoliar, erect-spreading, spicate; peduncles erect, to 25 cm long, 5 mm wide at base and ± flattened, 2 mm wide at apex and rounded, very pale green where exposed or whitish where concealed in flower, orange where exposed or pale green where concealed in fruit; bracts 5, prophyll 2-2.5 em long, 2nd bract 7-10 cm, 3rd 10-12 cm, 4th 14-18 cm long and extending onto rachis and concealing rudimentary 5th bract, tubular, acute-acuminate, bifid, green and minutely white-spotted in flower, brownish in fruit, longitudinally striate-nerved. Staminate with rachis to 30 em long, pendulous, pale grernish yellow in flower. Pistillate with rachis to 10 em long, rigid, erect to spreading, pale greenish yellow in flower, orange in fruit. Flowers: Staminate borne in six alternating rows and very closely appressed but not contiguous, 0.5 mm apart, attaining anthesis first at apex of rachis then progressing toward base, 1.5-1.75 x 2 mm, subglobose, whitish, superficial, leaving elliptic scars 2.5 mm long; calyx well developed and prominent in bud, 1.25-1.5 x 2-2.5 mm, shallowly lobed, membranous, sepals connate in basal 3/4, broadly rounded to straight apically, tips inflexed forming a flat rim; petals 2.5-3 x 2.5 mm, ovate, valvate, free nearly to base and there briefly connate, rounded apically, fleshy; stamens equalling or slightly exceeding petals at anthesis, 1.75-2 mm high, filaments large, 1.5-2 x 0.5 mm, broadly columnar, ± terete, flared basally, fleshy, anthers short, 0.5-0.75 mm long, thin, exserted and crowded in a cluster above open petal tips, dorsifixed near middle, elliptic, versatile, sagittate basally; pistillode 1.5-1.75 x 0.75 mm, broadly columnar, flared basally, only slightly so apically, tip flat. Pistillate borne in four loose rows, moderately dense, 0.5-2.0 mm apart, 1 x 1.75 mm, depressed-globose, whitish, sunken for 1/2 their height in prominent elliptic depressions 2.5 mm long; calyx 0.5 x 2 mm, thin, membranous, shallowly lobed, sepals connate in basal 3/4, broadly rounded apically; petals 1 x 1.75 mm, deltoid, imbricate in basal 1/2, valvate apically, rounded or slightly acute, thin, membranous; staminodes lacking; pistil 0.75-1 x 0.75-1.5 mm, ovoid-pyramidal, stigma lobes sessile, large, fleshy, ± triangular each with a distal longitudinal groove. Fruits: 13 x 7 mm, oblong, narrowed at both ends, black.
Biology
Wet forest on the Atlantic slope; 600-1,000 m elevation; usually on limestone.
[PW]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Palmweb - Palms of the World Online

    • Palmweb 2011. Palmweb: Palms of the World Online. Published on the internet http://www.palmweb.org. Accessed on 21/04/2013
    • Content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0