Iriartea Deltoidea
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Iriartea'' is a
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
in the palm family ''
Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...
''. It is native to Central and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. The best-known
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
– and probably the only one – is ''Iriartea deltoidea'', which is found from
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
, south into
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
and a great portion of Western Amazonian basin. It is the most common tree in many forests in which it occurs.


Names

It is known by such names as ''bombona'' (which can also refer to other palms, e.g. '' Attalea regia'') or ''cacho de vaca'' (which can refer to many other plants, like the
Bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae () is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the Order (biology), order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpet vines.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant ...
''
Godmania aesculifolia ''Godmania aesculifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae () is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the Order (biology), order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpet vines.Ver ...
'' or the
orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...
'' Myrmecophila humboldtii''). In the
Murui Huitoto language Murui Huitoto (or simply Murui also known as Bue, Witoto Murui or Witoto) is an indigenous American Huitoto language of the Witotoan family. Murui is spoken by about 1,100 Murui people along the banks of the Putumayo, Cara-Paraná and Igara-Par ...
of southwestern
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
, it is called ''jɨagɨna'' or ''jɨaìgɨna'',Marín-Corba ''et al.'' (2005) in western Ecuador it is known as ''pambil'', and in Peru it is known as the ''pona'' palm.


Description

These palms are canopy
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
s 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 ''Socratea exorrhiza'', the walking palm or cashapona, is a palm native to rainforests in tropical Central and South America. It can grow to 25 metres in height, with a stem diameter of up to 16 cm, but is more typically 15–20 m tall ...
'' (which also bears stilt roots), as the stilt roots of the former are much less tightly appressed upon one another. The
leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
are up to 5 m long, and pinnate. The numerous pinnae are fan-shaped, and held in various planes. The
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
is a 2-cm diameter
drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...
, and primarily dispersed by
bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
s and
toucans Toucans (, ) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. They are most closely related to the Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over 40 different species. ...
. Toucan foraging behavior can have quite distinct signature in young second-growth forest regeneration. In certain cases seedlings growing around a mature fruiting ''Iriartea'' palms may actually come from dozens of different trees hundreds of meters away.


Uses

The fruit are also eaten by humans, and the wood is used for construction and in
handicraft A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...
. ''Iriartea'' timber is highly prized for housing, furniture, and tools. Various South American countries, including Ecuador, export ''Iriartea'' wood to the United States.


Taxonomy and systematics

Almost all species at one time placed in ''Iriartea'' have now been moved elsewhere or placed in
synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
y with ''I. deltoidea''. ''
Dictyocaryum ''Dictyocaryum'' is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the palm family found in South America. It is closely related to the genus ''Iriartea''; they are commonly called araque or palma real. As many as eleven species have been described b ...
'', ''
Iriartella ''Iriartella'' is a genus of two species of palms found in northern and northwestern South America (Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and western Brazil; particularly the Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, and Pará states).Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. ...
'', ''
Socratea ''Socratea'' is a genus of five species of palms found in tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where ...
'' and ''
Wettinia ''Wettinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the palm family Arecaceae. The genus, established in 1837, contains some 20 species, but more seem to await discovery considering that 4 species - ''Wettinia aequatorialis, W. aequatorialis'', ''Wett ...
'' were split off from the ''Iriartea'' but are close relatives, together with the present genus forming the
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
Iriarteeae Iriarteeae is a palm tribe in the subfamily Arecoideae. Genera Iriarteeae includes the following genera: *'' Dictyocaryum'' *'' Iriartea'' *'' Iriartella'' *'' Socratea'' *'' Wettinia'' See also * List of Arecaceae genera References Extern ...
. Less closely related palms which were at one time presumed to be Iriarteeae are members of the genera ''
Ceroxylon ''Ceroxylon'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae, native to the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, known as Andean wax palms.Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Bo ...
'', ''
Drymophloeus ''Drymophloeus'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is native to New Guinea and nearby islands in Samoa and Maluku (province), Maluku.Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trust ...
'', and the
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...
''
Deckenia nobilis ''Deckenia nobilis'' (cabbage palm or millionaire's salad) is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Deckenia'', and is endemic species, endemic to the Seychelles, where it is threatened by habit ...
''. There remain a few somewhat dubious
taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
, 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 In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...
'')
* '' Iriartea xanthorhiza'' Klotzsch ex Linden * '' Iriartea zamorensis'' Linden


References


Footnotes

* (2004): World Checklist of Arecaceae &ndash
''Iriartea''
The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2008-APR-01. * (2005): Utilidad del valor de uso en etnobotánica. Estudio en el departamento de Putumayo (Colombia) se Value usefulness in ethnobotany. Case study in Putumayo department (Colombia) ''Caldasia'' 27(1): 89-101 panish with English abstractbr>PDF fulltext
{{Taxonbar, from=Q141221 Iriarteeae Monotypic Arecaceae genera Trees of Peru Taxa named by José Antonio Pavón Jiménez Taxa named by Hipólito Ruiz López