| Group I | Group II | Group III |
A Field Key to the Palms of Belize
GROUP IV Stems
slender, cane like, usually green or brown, rarely taller than 5 m
(* potential species)
| 9a. | Stems solitary. | ||||||||||
| 10a. | Apparently acaulescent (stem short, underground); with 8-21 leaves inflorescences spicate. | Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana | |||||||||
| 10b. | Stems evident in mature palms; leaves usually <8 (to 12 in Synechanthus) inflorescences branched (except in Chamaedorea nationsiana). | ||||||||||
| 11a. | Stems green; leaves clustered at stem apex, often <7. | ||||||||||
| 12a. | Leaflets many (>10) per side and arranged in groups of 2–6; sub-apical leaflets with one principal vein, rachis and petiole without a pale to yellow line beneath; monoecious; flowers arranged in rows along the flowering axes. | Synechanthus fibrosus | |||||||||
| 12b. | Leaflets few or many per side, not arranged in groups of 2–6, sub-apical leaflets without one principal vein, rachis and petiole often with a distinct, pale to yellow line beneath on the rachis, extending to the sheath; dioecious; flowers solitary or in groups. | ||||||||||
| 13a. | Leaves leathery and leaflets <3.5 cm wide, leaflets 2–6 per side, rigid and with a velvety aspect, blue-gray-green; female infl. spicate, male infl. with 2–10 branches; rare, restricted to limestone hilltops. | Chamaedorea adscendens | |||||||||
| 13b. | Leaves thin and/or leaflets wider, rigid or not, green in color. | ||||||||||
| 14a. | Leaflets mostly <11 per side of the rachis; stems usually <2 cm diameter. | ||||||||||
| 15a. | Apex of leaf sheath white; leaflets thin, with 2-7 angular 10 nerves; stem to 3 cm diameter; female flowers greenish, male flowers joined at the tips, opening by lateral slits; female, male infl. mostly with 5-20 branches. | Chamaedorea pinnatifrons | |||||||||
| 15b. | Apex of leaf sheath green; male petals free. | ||||||||||
| 16a. | Female infls. with > 2 branches. | ||||||||||
| 17a. | Leaves usually drying grayish, submarginal primary veins obscure; stem to 3 cm; male, female greenish. | Chamaedorea oblongata | |||||||||
| 17b. | Leaves usually drying green, brown or black, submarginal primary veins conspicuous; stem to 1.6 cm; male, female flowers orange. | *Chamaedorea sartorii | |||||||||
| 16b. | Female infls. spicate or bifurcate. | ||||||||||
| 18a. |
Inflorescences spicate, male infls. multiple at each node. |
*Chamaedorea nationsiana | |||||||||
| 18b. |
Inflorescences spicate or bifurcate (female), or 8-10 branched & solitary/node (male). |
Chamaedorea arebergiana | |||||||||
| 14b. | Leaflets >11 per side, stems variable. | ||||||||||
| 19a. | Small, slender palms <2 cm diameter and <2 m tall; leaf sheaths only tubular near base; leaflets 11-21 per side, linear to lanceolate; female, male infls. with 5-35 branches. | Chamaedorea elegans | |||||||||
| 19b. | Medium-sized, + stout palms, 2–10 cm diameter, 2–12 m tall; leaf sheaths tubular for + entire length. | ||||||||||
| 20a. | Leaflets linear to linear- lanceolate, to 36 per side of the rachis, with 2 primary veins on each side of a midvein; female infl. with ca. 50 branches. | Chamaedorea woodsoniana | |||||||||
| 20b. | Leaflets sigmoid, to 25 per side, with 5-10 primary veins; female infl. with 5–20 flowering branches. | Chamaedorea tepejilote | |||||||||
| 11b. | Stems not green, and/or leaves spread loosely along the stem; leaves often >7. | ||||||||||
| 21a. | Leaves 7-18, loosely spread apart along the stem; stemsbrown or green, usually clumped, 0.5–3 cm diameter. | Geonoma deversa | |||||||||
| 21b. | Leaves 6+, clustered at stem apex; stems not green, usuallysolitary and >3 cm diameter (except Reinhardtia, with openings between leaflet folds). | ||||||||||
| 22a. | Leaflets 4-ranked, spreading in 4 different planes and giving leaves a plumose appearance; stem to 15 cm diameter; leaves 6–8; crown open; fruits red; palm of rocky places over limestone at low elevations. | Gaussia maya | |||||||||
| 22b. | Leaflets generally spreading in 1-2 planes; stems large or small; leaves often >8; crown usually dense; fruits red or not; on limestone soils or not. | ||||||||||
| 23a. | Leaves with brown scales on lower surface; salt-tolerant, found near the sea in N. Belize; stem to 30 cm diameter; fruits red. | Pseudophoenix sargentii subsp. sargentii | |||||||||
| 23b. | Leaves without brown scales beneath; most commonly found in wet or moist forest, widespread or S. Belize; fruits brown or blackish. | ||||||||||
| 24a. | Leaves very large (2–8 m long), erect and irregularly divided into wide leaflets with serrated apical margins, persistent and forming a skirt around the stem; stems 15–20 cm diameter; fruits large (4–6 cm diameter), brown, covered in pyramidal protrusions; on wet, lowland soils. | Manicaria saccifera | |||||||||
| 24b. | Leaves
smaller, generally <3 m long, arching or erect, regularly divided,
persistent or not, but never forming a skirt around the stem; leaflets not
serrated (but apically toothed in Reinhardtia
gracilis); stem diameter large or
small; fruits small, <2 cm diameter, black or purple-black, fleshy. |
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| 25a. |
Leaflets few, usually 2 per side; slender palm <2 cm diameter, leaf sheaths closed but not forming a crownshaft (forming interwoven fibers instead). |
Reinhardtia gracilis | |||||||||
| 26a. | Leaves large: leaf rachis 11–23 cm long, with 14–22 nerves on each side; the lower pinnae 14.5–25 cm long. | Reinhardtia gracilis var. gracilis | |||||||||
| 26b. | Leaves small: leaf rachis 3.5-6 cm long, with 8–11 nerves on each side; the lower pinnae 8.5–12 cm long. | Reinhardtia gracilis var. gracilior | |||||||||
| 25b. | Leaflets many, often >10/side; stem much larger; crownshaft present in Euterpe. | ||||||||||
| 27a. |
Crownshaft (green or purplish) formed by open or closed leaf sheaths; leaves 5-10, leaflets ± same-shaped and linear flowers not in pits. |
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|
Stem gray; green crownshaft formed by closed leaf sheaths; infl. axes densely pubescent. |
Euterpe precatoria | ||||||||||
|
Stem brown, green or purplish crown shaft mostly open; infl. axes not densely pubescent. |
*Prestoea acuminata | ||||||||||
| 27b. |
Crownshaft absent (or very short, sometimes a reddish, and open "crownshaft" present in G. undata); to 20 leaves present, leaflets often irregularly-shaped; stem light brown. |
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|
Rare, presumably montane (?); reported by Henderson et al. (1995); not seen by the author in Belize; pits in flowering branches with a lower and upper lip; infl. borne below the leaves; leaflets ± linear. |
Geonoma undata | ||||||||||
|
Common, montane or not; pits in flowering branches without a distinct upper lip; most leaflets ± sigmoid to sickle-shaped. |
Geonoma interrupta | ||||||||||
| 9b. | Stems clumped. | Go to Group IV, p.3 | |||||||||
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