Huacrapona (Iriartea deltoidea)
Description
A slow growing palm up to 98 ft./30 m. The trunks are grey, smooth and sometimes are loaded with epiphytes (bromeliads, orchids, ferns). The infrafoliar inflorescence is yellow or cream colored and comes out from a big green spathe with horn-like structure. The fruits are globose and green colored. The black stilt roots can reach 1 meter or less. Canopy palm. Stem to 20 m tall and 20-40 cm in diameter, often swollen in the middle. Base supported by a 1-2 m tall cone of black stilt roots, these 3-5 cm in diameter. Leaves 4-6, 3-5 m long, bushy; pinnae numerous, longitudinally split, spreading in different planes, green on both sides. Inflorescence buds 1-3 m long, downwards curved, resembling a bulls horn. Inflorescence cream coloured in flower, the numerous pendulous branches to 1.5 m long, borne on a short curved axis. Fruits dull bluish black, globose, about 3 cm in diameter. Stem more or less ventricose, to 25 m tall, 10-30 cm in diam. at base, 12-70 cm in diam. at swelling, 11-23 cm in diam. at apex, gray, smooth, with nodes obscure and internodes to 30 cm long; stilt roots to 100, terete, nearly vertical, closely spaced and forming a dense cone, branched at or below ground level, to 2 m x 3.5 cm, black, with sharp spines. Leaves 4-7, stiffly spreading; sheath forming a crownshaft, 60-150 cm long, glaucous, green, outer surface with brown or white scales; petiole terete, 2-13 x 3 cm (to 40 cm long when including narrow, apical, petiolar part of sheath), green, densely brown-tomentose; rachis ridged adaxially, rounded abaxially, 2-4.3 m long, densely whitish-tomentose abaxially, densely whitish-brown-tomentose adaxially; pinnae 15-27 per side of rachis, alternate, stiff, coriaceous, deltate with praemorse distal margins, lustrous green glabrous above, green glabrous below except for dense brown villi at base and on veins or occasionally villous overall, occasionally below with lines about 3 mm wide of dense white or brown tomentum running parallel to veins, the middle pinnae split to the base.
Taxonomic tree
-
Domain: Eukarya
-
-
Kingdom: Plantae
-
-
Phylum: Cycadophyta
-
-
Class: Liliopsida
-
-
Order: Arecales
-
-
Family: Arecaceae
-
-
Genus: Iriartea
-
-
-
-
-
-
