Lepidocaryum

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Arecales

Familia: Arecaceae
Subfamilia: Calamoideae
Tribus: Lepidocaryeae
Subtribus: Mauritiinae
Genus: Lepidocaryum
Species: L. tenue
Name

Lepidocaryum Mart.
References

USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Lepidocaryum in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.

Lepidocaryum is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family from South America where the lone species, Lepidocaryum tenue, is commonly called poktamui. Nine species names have been published, but palm taxonomists currently agree that just one variable species includes them all.[2][3] The most reduced member of the Lepidocaryeae, it is similar in appearance to three closely related genera, Mauritia, Mauritiella, and Lytocaryum.[4] The genus name combines the Greek words for "scale" and "nut" and the species epithet is Latin for "thin".
Description

At just 2.5 cm in width, the clustering trunks reach no higher than 3.5 m and are covered at the top by old, adherent leaf bases. The small, reduplicate leaves are palmate and borne on 60 cm petioles. Each leaf is split in half, to the petiole, with each half further divided into 2–11 narrow segments.

Lepidocaryum is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, both with interfoliar inflorescences, branched to two orders, which are superficially similar. Female plants produce oblong or ovoid fruit, usually with one seed, red to brown in color and covered in scales.[3]
Distribution and habitat

Spread throughout Brazil's Amazon region, north to Venezuela, the wetter parts of Colombia, Guyana and Peru, it is an undergrowth palm found in low land rain forest. In habitat the leaves are often used in thatch.[4]
Varieties

Three varieties are recognized:[2]

Lepidocaryum tenue var. casiquiarense (Spruce) A.J.Hend. - Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil
Lepidocaryum tenue var. gracile (Mart.) A.J.Hend. - Guyana, northern Brazil
Lepidocaryum tenue var. tenue - Colombia, Peru, northern Brazil

Uses

In the Amazonian region of Peru, particularly in and around Iquitos, the palm's leaves are widely used for thatching roofs.[5]

References

Martius, Historia Naturalis Palmarum 2:49. 1824.
Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-558-6 / ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6
Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN 0-935868-30-5 / ISBN 978-0-935868-30-2
Brokamp, Grischa (2015). Relevance and Sustainability of Wild Plant Collection in NW South America: Insights from the Plant Families Arecaceae and Krameriaceae. Wiesbaden: Springer Spektrum. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-08696-1. ISBN 978-3-658-08695-4.