Dypsis heterophylla (Dypsis heterophylla)

Description

Clustering palm, often seeming solitary. STEMS 0.5-2.5 m tall, 7-8 mm in diam.; internodes 3-6 cm long, dark green, distally 0.7-4 cm long, densely dull rusty-scaly. LEAVES 5-9 in the crown, spiral, entire or pinnate, porrect, sometimes marcescent; sheath 6-12 cm long, pale green and densely scaly with long-laciniate purple to red scales, with auricles absent or up to 1 cm long; petiole absent or up to 12 cm long, 1.5-3 mm wide, densely puberulous; rachis 9-28 cm long, densely puberulous to almost glabrous, in mid-leaf 1-2 mm wide, hardly keeled; lamina entire and 17-24 cm long, midrib 7.5-11.5 cm, lobes 7.5-14 x 1.2-3.5 cm, the apices dentate over a width of 5-12 mm and with some teeth on the outside margin as well, with 7-11 main veins, with reddish glands on midrib and minor veins; or pinnate with 2-13 leaflets on each side of the rachis, in groups of 2-5 or irregular, group interval 2-8 cm, the proximal leaflets 7-20 x 0.3-1.8 cm (occasionally much wider than the median and connate for up to 1.8 cm with the midrib, with 1-6 main veins), median 6-13 (- 19) x 0.4-1.3 cm, distal 5-15 x 0.6-3 cm, main veins 1-5, with a few to many scattered scales on the main and minor veins and distally with large marginal scales, apices attenuate to acuminate, distal pair joined for 0.5-5 cm, with 3-6 main veins, dentate over a width of 0.3-1 cm. INFLORESCENCE interfoliar, branched to 1 order or rarely (in the north, and the type of N. rhodotricha) unbranched, arching, 15-30 cm; peduncle 7-19 cm long, 1.5-2 mm in diam. distally, densely puberulous; prophyll 4-15 cm long, 3-8 mm wide, borne at 3-5 cm above the base of the peduncle, dark brown, with scattered scales to almost glabrous, opening in the distal 1-3 cm; peduncular bract deciduous, inserted at 9-12 cm from the base of the peduncle, 3-9 cm long, split in the distal 2-3 cm; non-tubular peduncular bract occasionally present and 2-11 mm long; rachis absent or up to 5 cm long, with (1 -) 2-6 branches, with scattered scales; rachillae yellow-green, 4-10 cm long, 1-2.5 mm in diam., with scattered stellate scales but glabrescent, with distant superficial triads. STAMINATE FLOWERS with sepals 0.7-1.6 mm x 0.8-1.5 mm; petals 1.6-3 x 1.1-1.6 mm, striate, occasionally on a 0.3-0.5 mm high receptacle; stamens 6, equal or biseriate, the antesepalous 0.2-0.4 mm lower than the antepetalous, connate for 0.2-0.3 mm, filaments 0.4-1.2 mm, white, thin, anthers 1-1.5 x 0.4-0.7 mm, dorsifixed versatile, slightly apiculate; pistillode trigonous-pyramidal, 0.6-1.2 x 0.2-0.6 mm, cylindrical. PISTILLATE FLOWERS with sepals 0.7-1.6 x 0.8-1.6 mm; petals 2-2.8 x 1.5-2.8 mm; staminodes 0.1-0.4 mm; pistil 2.1-2.2 mm high, 0.7-2.2 mm in diam. FRUIT yellow turning orange and then red, ellipsoid, fleshy, 5-6.3 x 4-5 mm (9-11 x 4-5 mm in the type of rhodotricha). SEED about 6 x 3.5-4 mm, with rounded to slightly pointed base and apex, with homogeneous endosperm. (J. Dransfield and H. Beentje. 1995)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.