Chamaedorea stolonifera H.Wendl. ex Hook.f.

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Distribution

MEXICO. Chiapas.

General Description

Habit: stoloniferous, 1-2 m tall, forming colonies of the same sex to 10m across. Stems: separated, new stems arising at a considerable distance from old ones, erect, 5-8 mm diam., green, prominently ringed, internodes 3-6 cm long. Leaves: 5-8, spreading, bifid; sheath to 10 cm long, tubular, slightly oblique apically, longitudinally striate-nerved; petiole 5 cm long, flattened or faintly grooved and green above, rounded and pale below; rachis to 10 cm long, slightly angled and green above, rounded below with a yellowish band extending onto sheath; blade 30 x 25 cm, incised apically to 213 its length, lobes divergent, oblong-lanceolate, 25-30 x 9-10 cm, deep green, acute, outer margin toothed along upper half, teeth becoming more closely spaced apically, IO prominent primary nerves on each side of rachis, these pale and keeled above, 2 secondaries between each pair of primaries, tertiaries numerous, inconspicuous, closely spaced. Inflorescences: usually infrafoliar but sometimes interfoliar initially, solitary, erect-spreading, to 25-30 cm long; peduncles to 20 cm long, slender, erect, green in flower, orange in fruit; bracts 3-5, uppermost reaching or just extending onto rachis slightly, fibrous, lanceolate, acuminate, imbricate, green in flower, brown in fruit, longitudinally striate-nerved; rachis 1-2 cm long, green in flower, red-orange in fruit. Staminate with 2-7 rachillae, these 7-13 cm long, 1.5-2 mm diam., spreading and flexuous, more or less rounded but slightly longitudinally angled, light green, minutely white-spotted. Pistillate with 2-4 rachillae, these to 10 cm long, slightly angled longitudinally and green in flower, becoming thickened, rounded, and orange in fruit. Flowers: Staminate in ± dense spirals, 2.5-3 x 3.5-4.5 mm, strongly depressed-globose, flattened apically, brick-red to yellow- orange, slightly sunken; calyx 1 x 2.5-3 mm, obscurely lobed, pale green to white, membranous, sepals imbricate in basal 1/2-3/4, rounded to acute apically; petals 2 x 3 mm, connate in basal 3/4, free and valvate apically, strongly cup-shaped, slightly bilobed, acute, thick, ± fleshy; stamens shorter than pistillode, filaments connate in a fleshy broad 6-toothed ring, whitish tinged with orange near apex, anthers 1 mm long, on teeth of filament ring, divaricate, pistillode barely exserted beyond petals, columnar, truncate and abruptly flared apically, orange. Pistillate in ± remote spirals, 2 x 3.5-4 mm, broadly obconical, red-orange, sunken in broadly elliptic pits; calyx 0.5 x 2.53 mm, deeply lobed, pale green, membranous, sepals imbricate in basal 1/4-1/2, rounded to acute apically; petals 2.5 x 2.5, briefly imbricate basally, free and valvate apically, acute, cup-shaped, thick, fleshy; pistil 1-1.5 mm high, depressed-globose, whitish; stigma lobes sessile, recurved, clear-colored. Fruits: 7-9 mm diam., globose, black.

Biology

Wet forest on the Atlantic slope; 600-800 m elevation; usually on limestone.