Aiphanes aculeata Willd.

  • Authority

    Borchsenius, Finn & Bernal-González, Rodrigo. 1996. Aiphanes (Palmae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 70: 1-94. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Arecaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Aiphanes aculeata Willd.

  • Type

    Type. VENEZUELA. Miranda: Near Caucagua, Bredemeyer s.n. (B ). Neotype (here designated). VENEZUELA. Miranda: Dtto. Brión, along quebrada Agua Bendita, a tributary to Río Aricagua, 2.3 km E of Pueblo Seco, 4.6 km E of Aricagua, 75 m, 24-25 Mar 1973 (fl), Steyermark & Espinoza 106916 (holoneotype, BH; isoneotypes, NY, VEN).

  • Synonyms

    Euterpe aculeata (Willd.) Spreng., Martinezia aculeata (Willd.) Klotzsch, Martinezia aiphanes Mart., Marara aculeata (Willd.) H.Karst. & H.Wendl., Caryota horrida Jacq., Aiphanes horrida (Jacq.) Burret, Martinezia caryotifolia Kunth, Marara caryotifolia (Kunth) H.Karst. & H.Wendl., Aiphanes caryotifolia (Kunth) H.Wendl., Tilmia caryotifolia (Kunth) O.F.Cook, Bactris praemorsa Poepp. ex Mart., Aiphanes praemorsa (Poepp. ex Mart.) Burret, Martinezia truncata Brongn. ex Mart., Martinezia elegans Linden & H.Wendl., Aiphanes elegans (Linden & H.Wendl.) H.Wendl., Marara bicuspidata H.Karst., Martinezia ernestii Burret, Aiphanes ernestii (Burret) Burret, Martinezia killipii Burret, Aiphanes killipii Burret, Aiphanes orinocensis Burret

  • Description

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    Species Description - Solitary; stem 3-10 m tall, 6-10 cm diam., in cultivated specimens up to 15 m tall and 15 cm diam., armed with grey to black, to 10 cm long, flattened spines on the internodes. Leaves 10-15, spreading, the lower ones recurved; sheath 60-90 cm long, with spines similar to those on stem; petiole almost lacking or up to 25 cm long, armed like sheath, but spines shorter; rachis 175-200 cm long, with a white or grey, caducous indument, armed with numerous black, applanate spines, to 5 cm long; pinnae 25-40 per side, inserted in groups of (2-)4-6(-10), in different planes, groups occupying 8-18 cm along the rachis, separated by 10-25 cm, pinnae abruptly widening near apex, 1-5 times as long as wide, bicuspidate or rarely truncate-bicuspidate at apex, glabrous on both sides, or minutely spinulose abaxially, rarely densely covered with long spinules on both sides, often with a row of black, to 5 mm long spines along the margins; basal pinnae quite variable, 9-28 x 2-8 cm; middle pinnae 21-52 x 8-25 cm; apical pinnae 4-7 ribbed, 10-23 x 9-25 cm. Inflorescence erect or curving, pendulous in fruit, once or rarely twice branched; prophyll, peduncular bract and peduncle with a dense, white or grey indument; prophyll 30-35 cm long, 3-8 cm wide; peduncular bract inserted just above prophyll or on the distal half of peduncle, 80-140 cm long, 4-8 cm wide, coriaceous to woody, unarmed or spiny; peduncle 30-150 cm long, 3-20 mm diam. at junction with rachis, densely armed with black, to 5 cm long spines; rachis 20-75 cm long, unarmed or proximally armed like peduncle, rarely spiny throughout; rachillae 25-170, unarmed or rarely spiny, with a peltate indument, often with distinct swellings below the flower-groups; basal rachillae 8-40 cm long, sometimes with a basal flower less part up to 6 cm long, with triads for 2/3 of their length or less, distally staminate, sometimes only with a few triads clustered near the base; apical rachillae 3-10 cm long, staminate, or sometimes with a few triads at base; each triad subtended by a small bract, sometimes covering the pistillate flower for up to ¼ of its length; each dyad subtended by a minute or up to 1 mm long bract. Staminate flowers white, greenish yellow, or yellow, sometimes fragrant, superficial; sepals nearly free or partly connate, narrowly triangular, carinate, never exceeding >¼ of the petals, 1-2 mm long, with a minute spur at base; petals free or briefly connate at base, 2.5-5.5 mm long; filaments 1-2 mm long, flattened; anthers linear, (1.1-)1.5-3.3 mm long, 0.6-1 mm wide, connective dark; pistillode 0.5-1 mm high, trifid. Pistillate flowers superficial, or sunken into shallow pits in the rachillae; sepals 1.5-5 mm long, imbricate, dark, cartilaginous; petals 3-7 mm long, almost free or connate for Vi their length, corolla lobes often imbricate basally, valvate distally; staminodial cup 2-4 mm high, deeply lobed, lobes acute; pistil glabrous or occasionally covered with pale, soft spinules. Fruits bright red, rarely orange or white, (10-) 16-23 mm diam., smooth or occasionally with scattered, caducous spinules, 1-2 mm long; mesocarp orange, mealy-fleshy; endocarp (9-)13-20 mm diam., nearly smooth to shallowly pitted. Illustrations. Figs. 4A (stem spines), 7A, C (flowers), 9D (seedling plant), 10C, 14B, C (pollen), 18A (distribution map), 2IP (middle pinnae); Humboldt et al., 1825: tab. 699; Martius, 1839: tab. 161, fig. 1, 1-12; Martius, 1847: tab. 2, fig. 1, and tab. 28 C, figs. 1-7 (as Martinezia truncata); Drude, 1882: tab. 85; Hooker, 1886: tab. 6864 (all as Martinezia caryotifolia)\ Karsten, 1866: tab. 170 (as Marara caryotifolia); Galeano & Bernal, 1987: fig. 5; Balslev & Moraes, 1989: figs. 8, 9, pp. 27, 28 (both as Aiphanes caryotifolia). Also photos in several popular books on palms: Blomberry & Rodd, 1982: fig. 47; Braun, 1968: fig. 17; Hoyos & Braun, 1984: figs. 3, 5; Braun & Chitty, 1987: 47,48, under the synonyms A. caryotifolia and A. elegans.

  • Discussion

    Fruits are edible and sold in many markets in the Magdalena and Cauca valleys in Colombia. The mesocarp is extremely rich in carotene, the precursor of vitamin A, and the seed is rich in oil (Balick & Gershoff, 1990). In some parts of the Llanos in Colombia the endocarps of this species are used to play games.

    Aiphanes aculeata is the most widely distributed species in the genus, and correspondingly variable in morphology. It is distinguished by the thick, solitary stem, the abruptly widening, bi- or tricuspidate pinnae, typically inserted in groups of 4-6, and 2.5-5.5 mm long staminate flowers with linear anthers. Flowers are somewhat greenish in bud, yellow to white at anthesis. Fruits are normally bright red, but occasionally individuals with yellow, orange, or even white fruits are encountered. Aiphanes aculeata consists of two geographically separated subunits, one Venezuelan-Colombian, the other Peruvian-Bolivian.

    The northern subunit is rather uniform morphologically, with the exception of three specimens: 1) the type of A. killipii Burret from near Bucaramanga in Colombia, which has a spinulose pistil and fruit but otherwise corresponds in all respects to A. aculeata; 2) the type of A. orinocensis, collected on the lower Orinoco (without further locality), which has relatively few, large pistillate flowers aggregated on the basal part of the rachillae, an arrangement otherwise known only from Peruvian and Bolivian specimens [A. truncata (Martius) H. Wendland]; 3) a collection made from a planted tree in Ciudad Bolívar on the Orinoco in Venezuela (Bailey & Bailey 1649) with a densely twice-branched inflorescence.

    The southern subunit is more variable, and appears to include two main morphological forms. The first, including the type of A. ernestii Burret, is known from the lowlands in southeastern Peru, adjacent areas in Brazil, and Nor Yungas in Bolivia. It is characterized by more or less hirsute, tricuspidate pinnae, peduncular bract inserted near the base, rachillae without swellings below the flower groups, and relatively small flowers. Although in Peru fruits are red and around Caranavi in Bolivia fruits are white, plants from these two areas are otherwise identical. The second form, corresponding to A. truncata (Martius) H. Wendland, is known from the department of Cuzco in Peru and the eastern Andean slopes in Bolivia from the department of La Paz to that of Santa Cruz. It is characterized by narrower, truncate-bicuspidate, glabrous pinnae, peduncular bract inserted distally on the peduncle, rachillae with strong swellings below the flower groups, and larger flowers.

    The holotype of A. aculeata was lost already in the beginning of the 18th century (Martius, 1847), and no isotypes exist. A collection from coastal Venezuela (Steyermark 106916) has been chosen as neotype. This collection, including an inflorescence in staminate anthesis, has been preferred to a sterile collection closer to the type locality (Steyermark 90137).

    Aiphanes elegans (Linden & H. Wendland) H. Wendland (basionym Martinezia elegans) was based on a collection by Funck and Schlim from “Neu Grenada” without further locality, including only a juvenile leaf. No collection by Funck and Schlim annotated A. elegans has been found in the consulted herbaria. However, a specimen at L, labeled “Afartinezia ? elegans, Herm. Wendl., Nova Grenada, Linden coll.,” matches the original description to such detail that it must be the holotype itself. Funck and Schlim sold all their material to Linden’s establishment in Luxembourg, from where specimens were later sold to various private and official herbaria. It is likely that specimens bought in this way could have been annotated “Linden coll.” A similarly annotated specimen at K is most likely an isotype.

    Aiphanes ernestii was published as a new name for Dammer’s (1915) homonym Martinezia ulei; Dammer had published the name M. ulei (= Aiphanes ulei) in 1907. The type was a collection made by Ule at Seringal Auristella (not localized with certainty) on Río Alto Acre in the border area between Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru. The holotype at B was destroyed and no isotypes exist. A collection from Tahuamanu in Madre de Dios, Peru (Vargas 18694), ca. 50 km S of Río Alto Acre, has been chosen as neotype.

    Martinezia truncata [= Aiphanes truncata (Brongniart ex Martius) H. Wendland] was based on a collection by d’Orbigny (no. 8) from “Yungas de la Palma” (= Yungas del Palmar?, an area in dept. Cochabamba, Bolivia, 17° 08' S, 65° 30' W). Unfortunately, the herbarium of d’Orbigny (in P) is disorganized and much of the material has been lost. The cited collection could not be found on request and is presumably lost. Instead the original illustration by d’Orbigny (Martius, 1847: tab. 2, fig. 1) has been chosen as lectotype.

    Distribution and Ecology: Widely distributed in western South America, from Trinidad to Bolivia. The total distribution area is divided into two subunits. In the north it occurs from Trinidad, along the Coastal Cordillera in Venezuela (0-300 m), the eastern slopes of Cordillera de Mérida and Cordillera Oriental in Colombia south to the department of Meta (to 1500 m), and in the valleys of Río Magdalena and Río Cauca, where it is commonly planted and naturalized; due to almost complete deforestation of these areas natural populations can no longer be found, but there is no doubt that the interandean valleys of Colombia are part of the natural range of the species. It has also been reported from British Guyana (Schomburgk, 1848), upper Orinoco, Río Atabapo, and Río Cassiquiare in Venezuela (Humboldt et al., 1816), as well as El Dorado and further south on Río Caroni (Braun & Chitty, 1987), but there are no herbarium vouchers to document these reports. The southern distributional range includes eastern Peru, from the department of San Martín and southward through Huánuco and Madre de Dios, reaching 1300 m in the department of Cuzco, western Brazil, and the eastern Andean slopes in Bolivia reaching 1700 m in the department of La Paz and 900 m in Santa Cruz. Aiphanes aculeata has a preference for seasonal to dry tropical forest but occurs also in humid forest types. The gap in the distribution, from southeastern Colombia to northern Peru, nevertheless coincides with the part of the upper Amazon richest in precipitation. Aiphanes aculeata is widely planted as a garden ornamental and in botanical gardens throughout the world.

  • Common Names

    Macaglüta, macahuite, corozo del Orinoco, corozo anchame, marara, mararay, mararave, cubarro, Chonta, pujamo, chascaraza, charascal, corozo chiquito, corozo colorado, pujamo, gualte, corozo, chonta raro, cocos rara

  • Distribution

    Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Caldas Colombia South America| Casanare Colombia South America| Cundinamarca Colombia South America| Meta Colombia South America| Quindío Colombia South America| Tolima Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Barinas Venezuela South America| Miranda Venezuela South America| Sucre Venezuela South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Peru South America| Cusco Peru South America| Huánuco Peru South America| Madre de Dios Peru South America| Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Bolivia South America| Beni Bolivia South America| La Paz Bolivia South America| Pando Bolivia South America| Santa Cruz Bolivia South America| Belgium Europe| Sri Lanka Cuba South America| Cienfuegos Cuba South America| Ecuador South America| Pichincha Ecuador South America| England Europe| Indonesia Asia| Java Indonesia Asia| Panama Central America| Peru South America| Singapore Asia| United States of America North America| Florida United States of America North America| Hawaii United States of America North America| Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America|