| Group I | Group III | Group IV |
A Field Key to the Palms of Belize
GROUP II: Leaves pinnately compound,
stems and/or petioles armed with spines or thorns
(* potential species)
| 1a. |
Climbing palms; leaves with a whip-like extension of the rachis (cirrus) containing barb-like hooks; stems densely spiny (cf. *Chamaedorea elatior, Group III). |
Desmoncus orthacanthos | ||
| 1b. | Arborescent, to 4 m tall, cirrus absent. | |||
| 2a. | Stems clumped, rarely solitary, mostly <6 cm diameter. | |||
| 3a. |
Leaflets glabrous beneath, regularly arranged and spreading in the same plane; spines on sheath, petiole, and rachis <9 cm long; found in open habitats near groundwater; fruits purple-black. |
Bactris major var. major | ||
| 3b. |
Leaflets often pubescent beneath, clustered and spreading in different planes; spines on sheath, petiole, and rachis to 15 cm long; in wet forest; fruits orange to red. |
Bactris mexicana | ||
| 2b. | Stems solitary. | |||
| 4a. |
Stems to 8 cm (rarely >6 cm) diameter, with whorls of flattened, black spines; leaves not plumose in appearance; found in moist to wet forests; fruits bristly. |
Astrocaryum mexicanum | ||
| 4b. |
Stems to 50+ cm diameter, spines not flattened; leaves plumose; fruits smooth; in open and/or disturbed areas. |
Acrocomia aculeata | ||
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