Butia marmorii (Butia marmorii)

Description

Stem solitary acaulescent, subterranean 10–20 cm in diam. with persistent leaf bases. Leaves 3–5 in the crown, spirally arranged and spreading; leaf sheath plus petiole about 2–15 cm long, adaxially channeled and abaxially rounded, and glabrous; petiole not including the leaf sheath less than 1 cm (0.4–0.5) cm long and 0.5–0.7 wide and 0.1–0.2 cm thick at the base of the leaf blade; leaf rachis 23–51 cm long with about 9–18 pairs of leaflets distributed evenly along the rachis; basal leaflets about 11–31 cm long × 0.1–0.3 cm wide, middle leaflets about 24–44 cm long × 0.4–0.7 cm wide, apical leaflets about 17–31 cm long × 0.1–0.3 cm wide. Inflorescence interfoliar, unbranched or branched to 1 order, peduncle 4.5–9.0 cm long × 0.3–0.5 cm wide × 0.1–0.5 cm thick; peduncular bract with a total length of about 8–19 (–40) cm with no apparent beak and the expanded or inflated part of the bract measuring ca. 4.0–12.5 (–18) cm long × 0.3–1.1 (–2.5) cm in width and with a 1.2–3.0 cm perimeter and a 0.5 mm thickness, very thin or thicker, but not as thin as onion skin and never translucent; rachis 0–1 cm long; rachillae 1–8, apical ones about 2.8–7.0 cm long and basal ones about 3–7 cm. Flowers dark purple to pale yellow with purplish tinge; staminate flowers near the base about 4.5–5.5 mm long × 2 mm wide, sessile, basal ones frequently short pedicellate with pseudopedicels about 1–1.5 mm long; sepals 3, distinct, linear triangular, connate at base forming a pseudo-pedicel, acute, sclerenchymous at the base but membranous near the tip, glabrous; petals 3 distinct, unequal, obovate, valvate, membranous, glabrous, with distinct venation, about 3.5–3.8 × 2.0–2.5 mm, acute; stamens 6, pale yellow, distinct, 2.5 mm long, with filaments 1.5 mm long, pistillode trifid, less than 0.5 mm long. Pistillate flowers, conical, sessile; sepals, glabrous, with no visible venation except at the margins and tip, sclerenchymous, imbricate, ca. 5.0–6.5 × 2.5–3.0 mm, unequal, acute, faintly keeled at tip; petals 3, distinct, imbricate at base, valvate at apex, triangular, obscurely nerved, glabrous, 3.2–5.5 × about 2.3–3.0 mm, acute; gynoecium 2.5–3.0 mm long × 1.0 mm wide, glabrous. Fruits purple when mature, 1.2–2 cm long × 1.2–1.5 cm in diam., ovoid; cupule (persistent perianth) greenish brown, about 0.6–0.8 cm in diam. × about 0.4 cm high; petals slightly longer that sepals, staminodial ring truncate, 0.5 mm high × 2.5 mm in diam.; epicarp dark purple when mature, smooth and glabrous; mesocarp pale yellow, fleshy, non-fibrous about 1–2 mm thick; endocarp nearly spherical to elliptical, about 1.0–1.8 × ca. 1.0–1.3 cm., about 1 mm or less thick (about 0.5 mm thick), hard, bony, dark brown to nearly black, apex with no distinctive protuberance or beak, interior smooth, monovittate, round in cross-section, outer surface nearly smooth, pores subequatorial, 3 nearly even with surface, sutures visible; seed 1, spherical to elliptical, 8–9 mm long × 5–6 mm in diam., endosperm white, homogeneous. Germination remote tubular, eophyll simple, narrowly lanceolate.