| Aiphanes chiribogensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Genus: | Aiphanes |
| Species: | A. chiribogensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Aiphanes chiribogensis | |
Aiphanes chiribogensis is a species of palm which is endemic to western Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Aiphanes chiribogensis is a small palm up to 3 metres (10 ft) tall with stems 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in) in diameter which are "fiercely armed" with black spines up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long. Stems grow singly, not in clonal clusters. Individuals have between 5 and 9 leaves which consists of a leaf sheath, a petiole and a rachis. Leaf sheaths, which wrap around the stem, are 20 to 40 cm (8 to 16 in) long. They are violet on the inside, brown, scaly and covered with black or brown spines on the outside. Petioles are green, 12 to 45 cm (5 to 18 in) long, and are covered with scattered spines. Rachises are green, 48 to 100 cm (19 to 39 in), and lack spines. Leaves each bear 12 to 17 pairs of leaflets. [2]
Male flowers are deep purple with yellow anthers, while female flowers are pinkish violet with rose-coloured pistils. Fruit are bright red, about 10 to 12 millimetres (0.4 to 0.5 in) in diameter. [2]
The species was first described in 1989 by Finn Borchsenius and Henrik Balslev. [2]
Aiphanes chiribogensis is endemic to western Ecuador. It is known from Pichincha Province in northwestern Ecuador, and was collected from Azuay Province in southwestern Ecuador 1943 but the area where it was collected has suffered extensive deforestation, and attempts to find it again in that area have been unsuccessful. [2]
The species is known from seven populations, none of which lie within Ecuador's network of protected areas. Since these areas are threatened by habitat destruction, it is classified as a vulnerable species. [1]
Bactris is a genus of spiny palms which is native to the Mexico, South and Central America and the Caribbean. Most species are small trees about 2 m tall, but some are large trees while others are shrubs with subterranean stems. They have simple or pinnately compound leaves and yellow, orange, red or purple-black fruit. The genus is most closely related to several other spiny palms—Acrocomia, Aiphanes, Astrocaryum and Desmoncus. The fruit of several species is edible, most notably B. gasipaes, while others are used medicinally or for construction.
Aiphanes is a genus of spiny palms which is native to tropical regions of South and Central America and the Caribbean. There are about 26 species in the genus, ranging in size from understorey shrubs with subterranean stems to subcanopy trees as tall as 20 metres (66 ft). Most have pinnately compound leaves ; one species has entire leaves. Stems, leaves and sometimes even the fruit are covered with spines. Plants flower repeatedly over the course of their lifespan and have separate male and female flowers, although these are borne together on the same inflorescence. Although records of pollinators are limited, most species appear to be pollinated by insects. The fruit are eaten by several birds and mammals, including at least two species of amazon parrots.
Roystonea is a genus of eleven species of monoecious palms, native to the Caribbean Islands, and the adjacent coasts of the United States (Florida), Central America and northern South America. Commonly known as the royal palms, the genus was named after Roy Stone, a U.S. Army engineer. It contains some of the most recognizable and commonly cultivated palms in tropical and subtropical regions.
Aiphanes minima is a spiny palm tree which is native to the insular Caribbean from Hispaniola to Grenada, and widely cultivated elsewhere. Usually 5–8 metres (16–26 ft) tall, it sometimes grows as an understorey tree and only 2 m (6.6 ft) in height.
Bactris campestris is a small spiny palm which grows in multi-stemmed clumps in savannas and low forests in northern South America from Colombia to the Guianas, Trinidad and Tobago, and northern Brazil.
Desmoncus is a genus of mostly climbing, spiny palms native to the Neotropics. The genus extends from Mexico in the north to Brazil and Bolivia in the south, with two species present in the southeastern Caribbean.
Attalea crassispatha is a palm which is endemic to southwest Haiti. The most geographically isolated member of the genus, it is considered a critically endangered species and has been called one of the rarest palms in the Americas.
Aiphanes acaulis is a spiny palm endemic to western Colombia. It is acaulescent, as the specific epithet "acaulis" implies, – that is, the stem is short to the extent that it is difficult to see at all, and mostly subterranean. Plants have 8 to 10 leaves which are up to 1.5 metres long. The flowers are purple and are borne on an erect inflorescence.
Aiphanes duquei is a species of palm that is endemic to Colombia. Known from only a small area in the Cordillera Occidental, it is threatened by habitat loss and forest management practices.
Aiphanes leiostachys is a species of palm that is endemic to Colombia. Known from only a few forest fragments in the Cordillera Central, it is threatened by habitat loss and forest management practices.
Aiphanes lindeniana is a species of palm that is endemic to Colombia. Although widespread in the Cordillera Occidental and Cordillera Central, it is threatened by habitat loss and forest management practices.
Roscheria is an endangered, monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family. The genus is named for Albrecht Roscher, a 19th-century German explorer, and the epithet for its single species R. melanochaetes derives from Latin and Greek meaning 'black' and 'bristle', alluding to the spines covering the trunks. They naturally occur on the Mahé and Silhouette Islands of Seychelles where they grow in mountainous rainforest and are threatened by habitat loss.
Eucrosia dodsonii is a species of plant that is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Guzmania xanthobractea is a species of plant in the family Bromeliaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Aiphanes deltoidea is a species of palm which is native to northeastern South America.
Aiphanes bicornis is a species of small, pinnately leaved palm which is endemic to Ecuador. First described in 2004 and known from only two locations, the species name refers to the deeply notched tips of its leaflets, which resemble a pair of horns.
Aiphanes eggersii, known locally as corozo, is a species of spiney, pinnately leaved palm which is native to the coastal plain of Ecuador and adjacent dry forests of Peru.
Geonoma undata is a species of medium-sized palm tree native to North and South America. It grows in the understory of tropical forests at high altitudes. This species has highly variable traits depending on its geographic location and several subspecies exist as a result.
Marantochloa purpurea is a species of plant in the family Marantaceae. It is found in tropical Africa, where its natural habitat is moist lowland forest. The leaf stems are used for various purposes including making string, baskets, mats and traps and the leaves are used for thatching, and for wrapping objects.
Saribus brevifolius is a species of palm tree in the genus Saribus, which has only been found in the Kawe and Gag Islands in the archipelago of the Raja Ampat Islands, which lie off the north-west tip of the Bird's Head Peninsula in Indonesia's West Papua province. It was only discovered in 2002 during an expedition funded by The Nature Conservancy. The palm grows along the coasts of these two tropical islands on small ridges composed of ultrabasic rock. It is a moderately-sized fan palm with smallish and regularly segmented leaves and a smallish inflorescence in the crown. The inflorescence is not longer than the leaves, and split at its base into three main branches with one or more sub-inflorescences, these containing red flowers with pink anthers. The ends of S. brevifolius leaf segments are rigid and have a bifurcate cleft 1-4% of the segment length.
