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Desmoncus polyacanthos

Botanic Family

Arecaceae

Author

Martius

Propagation

S.

Conservation Status

Least concern

Common Names

• Vara Chasha
• Jacitara
• Asitaremoe ( Carib )
• Kamwari (Guyana)
• Hold-me-back
• Small Leaf Kamwari (Creole)
• Kamwari (Arawak)
• Weheyu (Arawak)
• Kamuwari or Asitaremu (Carib)

Geographical Habitats

• Boliva
• Acre
• Alagoas
• Amapá
• Amazonas
• Bahia
• Espírito Santo
• Goiás
• Maranhão
• Mato Grosso
• Minas Gerais
• Pernambuco
• Rio de Janeiro
• Rondonia
• Roraima
• Sergipe
• Tocantins - Brazil
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• French Guiana
• Guyana
• Honduras
• Nicaragua
• Peru
• Suriname
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Venezuela
• Windward Islands

Natural Habitats

• Secondary forest
• riverine forest
• thorn forest
• rain forest
• riverside
• forest margins.

Flowering Times

• Oct-Nov (Suriname)

Fruiting Times

• Mar-Jul (Suriname)

High-climbing spiny palm to 15m. 17-26 leaves, sheath to 330mm long densely covered with 20mm black or brown curved spines, cirrus whip to 350mm long with 4-6 pairs of hooks to 50mm long, 4-14 pinnae each side, hooked apical rachis, spines to 7-pronged. Inflorescence to 500mm with spathe to 230mm long, densely armed, spadix to 400mm long, male flowers 8mm long with dentate sepals 1mm long & petals 5mm long, female flowers 4mm long with calyx 1.5mm long & corolla 2.5mm long. Red fruit to 16mm x 13mm.

Fruit edible, stems used for basketry, fodder, social

Further References

• Sturtevant 1919
• Bailey 1976
• Mobot
• NYBG
• NHN
• Neotrop
• FB
• The Plant List 2
• Kew
• Academia ResearchGate