Product Code Database
Lepidocaryum is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the arecaceae family from South America where the lone species, Lepidocaryum tenue, is commonly called poktamui. Nine species names have been published, but palm taxonomists currently agree that just one variable species includes them all. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesRiffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. / The most reduced member of the Lepidocaryeae, it is similar in appearance to two closely related genera, Mauritia and Mauritiella, as well as to the former genus Lytocaryum (now included in Syagrus).Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. / The genus name combines the Greek language words for "scale" and "nut" and the species epithet is Latin for "thin".
Lepidocaryum is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, both with interfoliar inflorescences, branched to two orders, which are superficially similar. Female plants produce oblong or ovoid fruit, usually with one seed, red to brown in color and covered in scales.
Distribution and habitat
Spread throughout Brazil Amazon Basin region, north to Venezuela, the wetter parts of Colombia, Guyana and Peru, it is an undergrowth palm found in low land rain forest. In habitat the leaves are often used in thatch.
Varieties
Three varieties are recognized:
Uses
In the Amazonian region of Peru, particularly in and around Iquitos, the palm's leaves are widely used for thatching roofs.
External links
|
|
