| Field notes | habit: palm of the understory, frequently 6-7m, but up to 11m. stem: up to 10m length, 5.5cm in diameter; internodes 7-10cm long and basally with some rows of 3-4cm long black spines. leaves: +/- 7 leaves; total length +/- 220cm; sheaths: +/- 15cm long, green; almost surrounding the stem basally but soon decreasing in its width; abaxially with many black spines; petiole: +/- 65cm long, green, with many prominent black spines, (up to 4.5cm); basally 10xl0mm, terminal l0x8mm in diameter; rachis: +/- 140cm long, green, abaxially armed with spines decreasing in size and number towards terminal; +/- 20 pinnae per side, these in groups of 3-4 and +/- opposite. inflorescence/infructescence: single, interfoliar, erect, branched to 1st order, monoeceous; peduncle: 45-100cm long (still growing during anthesis), light-green with brown indumentum, basally with many spines, distally with some single spines; bearing prophyll (+/- 45cm long, dark-brown and armed with some spines distally) and the persisting lst peduncular bract (+/- 100cm long, green, later brown, with single spines (up to lcm) especially on its distal part); one or two more bracts on the peduncle; rachis: +/- 50cm, light green, bearing +/- 80 green, spirally arranged rachillae, 4.5cm (terminal ones) - 25cm (basal ones) long; flowers: female green, male flowers yellow, basally arranged in triads, terminal 1/2-1/3 of the rachillae only bearing male flowers; the terminal rachillae bear male flowers only. fruit: mature fruit orange-red or red, +/'- 15mm in diameter, with persisting perianth (green); endocarp woody, 9mm in diameter, with 3 germpores. |
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