Arecaceae
Leopoldinia

Leopoldinia major Wallace

First published in Palm Trees Amazon: 15 (1853)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is SE. Colombia to S. Venezuela and N. Brazil. It is a tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

Distribution
From 1°50'N-1°05'S and 62°42'-69°20'W in the upper Rio Negro region of Brazil (Amazonas) and Venezuela (Amazonas) at (80-)98(-130) m elevation along the margins of black water rivers where the bases of the stems are underwater for several months of the year. Leopoldinia major appears to have a very patchy distribution (possibly a result of insufficient collecting); in Brazil it is known only from two localities along the Rio Negro, near Barcellos and near Santa Isabel; in Venezuela only along the Ríos Pasimoni-Yatua-Baria; and possibly the Río Papurí on the Colombian-Brazilian border. It may also occur on the Río Casiquiare; one specimen (Putz 179), not mapped, is labeled as coming from there but lacks a precise locality.
General Description
Plants (5.0-)6.8(-8.0) m tall; stems height and diameter no data, clustered. Leaves (10-)11(-12) per stem; sheaths 23 cm long, fibers from apices short, loose, separating, not joined; petioles (65.0-)71.0(-77.0) cm long; rachises (52.5)-56.5(-59.0) cm long, (4.4-)5.5(-7.2) mm diameter; pinnae (12-)13(-14) per side of rachis, pendulous, the bases broad, not narrowed, without swellings, midveins scarcely raised in cross-section adaxially; basal pinna 41.5 cm long, (0.2-)0.4(-0.8) cm wide, forming an angle of 69° with the rachis; apical pinna (22.5-)24.3(-26.0) cm long, (0.6-)1.1(-1.5) cm wide, forming an angle of 7° with the rachis. Inflorescences dimorphic; prophylls no data; peduncular bracts no data, inserted (6.0-)8.5(-11.0) cm above the prophyll; peduncles 26.0 cm long, (10.0-)15.4(-20.4) mm diameter; staminate rachillae (0.6-)1.2(-2.0) cm long; pistillate rachillae (10.5-)13.2(-18.0) cm long; fruits (33.6-)40.4(-45.5) mm long, (28.1-)33.2(-39.2) mm diameter, flattened, obovoid in side view, the surfaces smooth or with obscure, non-reticulate ridges from mesocarp fibers.
[PW]

Sources

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. 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 2024. 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