Iriartella setigera (Mart.) H.Wendl.

  • Authority

    Henderson, A. 1990. Arecaceae. Part I. Introduction and the Iriarteinae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 53: 1-100. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Arecaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Iriartella setigera (Mart.) H.Wendl.

  • Type

    Lectotype (Moore, 1963). Brazil. Amazonas: Rio Japurá, [Feb 1820] (fr), Martiuss.n. (lectotype, M; syn-type, M).

  • Synonyms

    Iriartea setigera Mart., Iriartea spruceana Barb.Rodr., Iriartella setigera var. pruriens Barb.Rodr., Iriartella spruceana (Barb.Rodr.) Barb.Rodr., Iriartella pruriens (Spruce) Barb.Rodr., Cuatrecasea spruceana (Barb.Rodr.) Dugand, Cuatrecasea vaupesana Dugand

  • Description

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    Species Description - Stems cespitose (occasionally solitary), erect, forming loose clusters of 2-10 main stems, to 12 m tall, (l-)2-4 cm diam., brown-gray, upper part densely to moderately covered with short, red-brown to black, acicular, clustered hairs, lower part glabrous, with nodes prominent and internodes 5-15 cm apart, developing from shoots at base of main stems or from ends of long black rhizomes 2 m x 0.5 cm; stilt roots to 45, nearly vertical, closely spaced, often poorly developed and then not apparent, branched at or below ground level, 50 x 0.5 cm, black, spiny. Leaves 6-8, spreading; sheaths forming an elongate crownshaft, 15-40 cm long, densely reddish-brown-tomentose with dense to moderate clusters of long dark brown, black or yellow acicular deciduous hairs; petiole 14-30 cm long, terete, densely pilosulous or velutinous to pilose with red-brown to white hairs but very quickly becoming glabrate and densely brown punctulate; rachis 34-96 cm long, ridged adaxially and densely brown-tomentose, rounded abaxially and densely whitish-tomentose; pinnae 5-9 per side, entire, borne at slight angle to horizontal, cu-neate-rhombic in outline, proximal and distal margins entire, then praemorse (but proximal margin entire for longer than distal), dull dark green adaxially and glabrous, dark green abaxially and glabrous or occasionally pilose, veins to seven per pinna, prominent abaxially, brown and tomentose especially near point of insertion; proximal pinna 12-20 x 2-4 cm; middle pinna 23-48 x 6-12 cm; apical pinna entire at first, becoming bifid, 16-28 x 8-16 cm. Inflorescence to 60 cm long in bud, erect and interfoliar in bud, becoming pendulous at anthesis and infrafoliar in fruit; peduncle 25-53 cm long, 1 cm in diam., dorsiventrally compressed, velutinous; prophyll to 16 cm long, bicarinate, velutinous; peduncular bracts 3-4, 8-40 cm long, densely reddish-brown-or whitish-velutinous; rachis 4-14 cm long, velutinous; rachillae 3-25, 8-22 cm long, glabrous or velutinous near base, green; triads spirally arranged, 2-4 mm apart, with the staminate flowers somewhat distant from the pistillate; flowers proximally in triads, near apex staminate in pairs or solitary, green; staminate flowers 3 mm long; sepals connate into a shallow 3-lobed calyx, 0.81 mm long; petals 2.5-3.8 mm long, ovate, valvate; stamens six; filaments short and broad; anthers ca. 1.8 mm long, narrowly ovate, apiculate; pistillode minute or absent; pollen with reticulate exine; pistillate flowers 2 mm long; sepals forming a shallowly 3-lobed calyx (but soon rupturing after anthesis into three distinct lobes), 0.5-0.6 mm long, thickened basally; petals 1.2-1.4 mm long, imbricate, widely ovate, thickened basally; staminodes minute or absent; stigmas three, sessile, reflexed at anthesis, 0.5 mm long; ovary glabrous, 1.2 mm high, 3-locular with 1 (-2) ovules developing; fruit ellipsoid, rarely almost globose, 1.4-1.7 x 0.7-1 cm, stigmatic scar basal; epicarp glabrous, scarlet, orange or brown at maturity and splitting irregularly from the apex; mesocarp 1 mm thick, white; endocarp thin, papery; seed ellipsoid, basally attached, 10-14 x 6-9 mm; raphe branches loosely anastomosing; hilum rounded; embryo apical; eophyll entire but becoming shallowly bifid.

  • Discussion

    The stems were at one time used by Indians to make blowguns (Spruce, 1871; Wallace, 1853). An infusion of the leaf base is a remedy for “carate” (Schultes & Cabrera 13729, Colombia).

    Iriartella setigera is variable throughout its range in quantitative characters, but essentially uniform in floral morphology. Populations in the northwest part of its range in Colombia have thicker rachillae, and these are a lighter brown color than usual. No other differences have been noted between these and more typical I. setigera.

    Dugand (1942) considered that the type locality of this species could be in present-day Colombia.

  • Common Names

    boo-hañ-ñee-kaw-né, boo-hoó-ño, bu-jugó, caña brava, maá-kan, obillakodo, pachuba, pimpí, susunabi, tayo, kubina, yurua, cervatana, mabe, mábi, macanilla, yadua, yuru-ua-yek, paxiubinha

  • Distribution

    Southeastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, Guyana, and western Brazil, in lowland forest usually much below 1000 m (Fig. 27).

    Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Guainía Colombia South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Vichada Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Guyana South America| Essequibo Guyana South America| Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America|