Chamaedorea pumila H.Wendl. ex Dammer

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution

Nativa en Colombia; Alt. 600 - 1350 m.; Andes.

Morphology General Habit

Hierba, palma solitaria

Conservation

Vulnerable

General Description

Habit: solitary, erect to decumbent, often appearing stemless, to 50 cm tall. Stem: 8-20 mm diam., often creeping at or near ground level, dark green, densely and prominently ringed, internodes no more than I cm long and usually much shorter, often covered with adventitious roots. Leaves: 6-10, erect-spreading, bifid; sheath to 10 cm long, very open, splitting deeply opposite petiole and clasping in a tubular manner only near base for 1-3 cm, remainder or upper 1/2 of sheath not clasping stem and appearing as extension of petiole, gray-green, densely and minutely white-spotted, whitish-margined and there green longitudinally striate-nerved; petiole 2-5 cm long, flat, gray-green, and channeled above, margins ofsheath extending upward on either side to form sides ofchannel, rounded and gray-green below with minute white spots; rachis 6-15 cm long, angled and green above, rounded and gray-green below with minute white spots; blade to 30 x 10-15 cm, obovate to subobovate- elliptic, incised apically 1/2 or more its length, lobes 10-15 cm long, thick and leathery, velvety iridescent dark gray-green, plicate, sometimes slightly mottled, acute, exterior margin toothed toward apex, decurrent on petiole, 9-13 prominent primary nerves on each side of rachis, these elevated above, pale below. Inflorescences: interfoliar, erect-spreading, equalling or slightly exceeding leaves; peduncles 15-20 cm long, 2.5-4 mm wide, enclosed by revolute decurrent margin of leaf sheath and then emerging above petiole, green or whitish in flower, orange in fruit; bracts 5-6, tubular, membranous, green but rotting away before anthesis, acute, bifid, longitudinally striate-nerved. Staminate with rachis 2.5 em long, green in flower; rachillae 4-10, these 8-15 cm long, 1-2 mm diam., green, recurved-drooping, simple. Pistillate spicate or rarely furcate; rachis or flower-bearing portion to 8-15 em long, recurved, ± stiff, 2 mm diam. and green in flower, becoming swollen to 3-5 mm diam. and reddish orange in fruit. Flowers: Staminate in moderately dense spirals, 4-5 x 4 mm, globose, greenish yellow, slightly sunken; calyx 1 x 2.5 mm, deeply lobed, green, sepals connate in basal 1/2, rounded to acute apically; petals 3-4 x 3 mm, ovate, valvate, free nearly to base and there briefly connate, thick, fleshy, acute and incurved apically; stamens 2 mm high, filaments to 1 mm long, adnate basally to pistillode in a buttresslike structure, anthers 0.75 mm long, light yellow or pale, bilobed; pistillode 2.5-3.5 mm long, shorter than petals, columnar with a broad 3-angled cap, buttressed basally, light greenish yellow. Pistillate in moderate spirals, 2.5-3 x 2-2.5 mm, conic or subglobose, greenish or greenish yellow, slightly sunken; calyx 1 x 2.5 mm, deeply lobed, green, sepals connate in basal 1/3, broadly acute apically; petals 3 x 3 mm, cup-shaped, imbricate nearly to apex, thick, fleshy, acute, slightly erect apically; pistil 1.5-2 x 2 mm, globose or subglobose, flattened apically, stigma lobes sessile, very short, slightly separated, whitish. Fruits: 6-10 mm, globose, black.

Biology

Wet forest mainly on the Atlantic slope but occasionally on the Pacific slope; 400-1,500 m elevation.

Distribution

COSTA RICA. Alajuela. Cartago. Guanacaste. Heredia. San Jose. Puntarenas.

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: not threatened. Confidence: confident