Chamaedorea matae Hodel, Principes 35: 75 (1991)

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Distribution

Map uses TDWG level 3 distributions (https://github.com/tdwg/wgsrpd)
Costa Rica present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Panamá present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
COSTA RICA. Puntarenas. PANAMA. Herrera. (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)A

Discussion

  • C. matae is close to C. warscewiczii but the latter species has double the number of pinnae with unelevated, smooth nerves above and although downward-pointing, curved rather than pendulous pistillate rachillae. C. matae is not cultivated except for the few plants in the research collection in Los Angeles. (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)A

Biology And Ecology

  • Dense, moist or wet forest on the Pacific slope; to 400 m elevation. (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)A

Etymology

  • Honors G. Mata, collectorof the type. (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)A

Description

  • Habit: solitary, slender, erect, to 3 m tall. Stem: 1.5-2 cm diam., green, smooth, ringed, internodes 5-12 cm long. Leaves: 4-7, spreading, pinnate; sheath to 20 cm long, tubular, obliquely open apically, longitudinally striated; petiole to 15-25 cm long, grooved and green above, rounded and pale below; rachis 50-70 cm long, angled and green above, rounded with a yellowish band below extending onto sheath; pinnae 4-5 on each side of rachis, basal ones to 30 x 9 cm, broadly lanceolate, strongly sigmoid, acuminate, thick, leathery, 5-6 prominent primary nerves, elevated above, drying yellow and prominent below, end pair conspicuously wider, to 15 cm wide, 10-12-nerved. Inflorescences: interfoliar, erect to nodding or arching, solitary; peduncles to 50 cm long, 7-10 mm diam., greenish in flower and red-orange in fruit where exposed; bracts 5, prophyll to 6 cm long, 2nd and 3rd bracts to 15 cm, 4th to 23 cm, 5th to 26 cm, ± loosely sheathing, brownish in flower and fruit, bifid, acuminate, fibrous, becoming tattered; rachises 3-8 cm long, green in flower, red-orange in fruit. Staminate with up to 15 rachillae, to 25 cm long, pendulous, green in flower. Pistillate with 7-10 rachillae, to 15-20 cm long, green and pendulous in flower, red-orange and pendulous in fruit. Flowers: Staminate in moderately dense spirals 1-2 mm apart, 3 x 2.5 mm, ± ovoid to barrel-shaped, leaving superficial elliptic scars 2.5-3 mm long; calyx 2.5 x 0.75 mm, scarcely lobed, strongly nerved when dry, sepals connate nearly to apex, rounded or straight apically; petals 3.5 x 2.5-3 mm, valvate, connate apically and basally and apically adnate to pistillode and corolla opening by lateral slits, strongly nerved when dry; stamens shorter than pistillode, anthers 1.5 mm long; pistillode 2.5-2.75 mm high, columnar. Pistillate leaving ± rounded superficial scars 2 mm long; calyx 0.75 mm high in fruit, scarcely lobed, strongly nerved; petals 2 x 3 mm in fruit, imbricate basally, broadly rounded apically, dark-centered, brown-margined, strongly nerved; pistil not seen. Fruits: 7-8 x 5-6 mm, ± ovoid, black. (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)A

Materials Examined

  • COSTA RICA. Puntarenas: Burger 8905 (F, MO); Essig 700811-1 (BH); Grayum 5946 (MO); Hodel 715 (BH, CR); Liesner 2841 (CR, MO), 3259 (CR); Moore 6527, 6539 (BH); Raven 21561 (F, RSA). PANAMA. Herrera: Hammel 4225 (MO). (Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.)A

Bibliography

    A. Hodel, D. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation. The International Palm Society.
    B. World Checklist of Arecaceae