Iriartea

Iriartea subsp. var.
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Iriartea is a genus in the palm family Arecaceae, native to Central and South America. The best-known species – and probably the only one – is Iriartea deltoidea, which is found from Nicaragua south into Bolivia. It is the most common tree in many forests in which it occurs.

These palms are canopy trees growing to 20-35 m tall. I. deltoidea is easily recognized by the prominent bulge in the center of its trunk, and the stilt roots, which form a dense cone up to 1 m in diameter at the base. It can thus be easily be distinguished from Socratea exorrhiza (which also bears stilt roots), as the stilt roots of the former are much less tightly appressed upon one another. The leaves are up to 5 m long, and pinnate. The numerous pinnae are fan-shaped, and held in various planes. The fruit is a 2-cm diameter drupe, and primarily dispersed by bats.

The fruit are also eaten by humans, and the wood is used for construction and in handicraft.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Iriartea (after Bernard Iriarte). Palmaceae. Tall spineless palms, with cylindrical or swollen stems supported on a pyramid of exposed roots. Leaves few, unequally pinnate; lfts. equilateral, cuneate, entire or erose, plicate; petiole channelled; sheath cylindrical: fls. small: fr. 1-2 in. long: stigmas eccentric or lateral in fr. This palm is separated from Ceroxylon by the cuneate lfts.—Species 10. Trop. S. Amer. I. bungerothii was advertised in 1895 as Triartea, which was presumably a typographical error for Iriartea. This is a horticultural name for I. exorrhiza,. Mart., but the plant is in cultivation under the former name. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Species

Almost all species at one time placed in Iriartea have now been moved elsewhere or placed in synonymy with I. deltoidea. Dictyocaryum, Iriartella, Socratea and Wettinia were split off from the Iriartea but are close relatives, together with the present genus forming the tribe Iriarteeae. Less closely related palms which were at one time presumed to be Iriarteeae are members of the genera Ceroxylon, Drymophloeus, and the monotypic Deckenia nobilis.

There remain a few somewhat dubious taxa, published in L'Illustration Horticole in 1881. These may be synonyms or good species, but probably the former:

• Iriartea affinis H.Karst. ex Linden
• Iriartea costata Linden
• Iriartea glaucescens Linden
• Iriartea pygmaea Linden (nomen nudum)
• Iriartea xanthorhiza Klotzsch ex Linden
• Iriartea zamorensis Linden

Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Iriartea. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Iriartea QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)