45 <div type=
"description"><p>Small or moderate, solitary, unarmed, pleonanthic, monoecious palm. Stem erect, irregularly ringed with prominent broad leaf scars and bases of old inflorescences towards the summit, often not obviously ringed below, sometimes greatly enlarged at the base, internodes elongate, brown. Leaves sometimes in
3 ranks, regularly pinnate, spreading; sheaths split
3/
4 to nearly to the base, forming a prominent crownshaft or not, glabrous adaxially, glaucous with brown, membranous, tattered scales or brown tomentum abaxially; petiole short or long, rounded in section, except directly above the sheath where shallowly concave, bearing reddish-brown tomentum or dot-like scales; rachis angled adaxially, abaxially rounded, with deciduous tomentum; leaflets regularly arranged, acute or distally briefly bifid, single-fold, midrib prominent and squared adaxially, prominent abaxially,
2 other veins elevated, all veins often dotted or with small pale scales abaxially, ramenta lacking or present along midrib abaxially, transverse veinlets not evident. Inflorescences interfoliar in bud and at anthesis or becoming infrafoliar at anthesis, branched to
1–
3 orders basally, to
1 order distally, erect, curved or pendulous, densely scaly throughout or only in branch axils; peduncle short, or long, sometimes dorsiventrally flattened; prophyll completely encircling the peduncle at insertion, prominently
2-keeled laterally, slightly beaked, chartaceous, enclosing the peduncular bract in bud; first peduncular bract similar, inserted near to or some distance above the prophyll, briefly beaked, sometimes densely scaly, a second, large, open, pointed peduncular bract often present, prophyll and peduncular bract caducous, the latter leaving a ruff-like base, or marcescent; rachis shorter, equal to or longer than the peduncle, bearing spirally inserted sometimes ruffled bracts subtending rachillae; rachillae short to moderate, very slender, bearing low, acute bracts subtending triads in the lower l/
3, more rarely in lower l/
2 –
5/
6, and often rounded bracts subtending paired or solitary staminate flowers distally, the flowers sometimes somewhat sunken; bracteoles surrounding the pistillate flower unequal, brown, somewhat sepal-like, the shorter about as long as the subtending bract, the longer exceeding the bract. Staminate flowers symmetrical, sometimes very small; sepals
3, distinct, basally imbricate, rounded, gibbous dorsally near the apex; petals
3, distinct, valvate; stamens
6, filaments very briefly connate at the base, free part flattened, not inflexed at the apex in bud, anthers nearly as long as the filaments, ± didymous from a short, darkened connective, introrse; pistillode fleshy, as long as or exceeding the stamens, about as wide as high, slightly expanded apically in a
3-lobed cap, lobes rounded. Pollen ellipsoidal asymmetric, occasionally oblate-triangular; aperture a distal sulcus, less frequently a trichotomosulcus; ectexine tectate, perforate, perforate and micro-channelled or finely perforate-rugulate, aperture margin similar or slightly finer; infratectum columellate; longest axis
30–
42 µm [
3/
4]. Pistillate flowers about twice as long as the staminate at anthesis; sepals
3, distinct, broadly imbricate, rounded, somewhat gibbous dorsally towards the apex; petals
3, distinct, imbricate except for briefly valvate apices; staminodes
3, at one side of the gynoecium; gynoecium ovoid, unilocular, uniovulate, ovule pendulous, probably hemianatropous. Fruit globose, eccentrically globose or ovoid ellipsoidal, sometimes very large, with stigmatic remains lateral at about the middle or basal, red, dark purplish or black; epicarp smooth, mesocarp of pale, fleshy parenchyma over a solid shell of pale sclerosomes underlain by pale parenchyma with flat, slender, ± anastomosing fibres and irregularly flattened tannin cells, endocarp fragile, vitreous, eccentrically globose, with short groove and rounded basal operculum. Seed globose, ellipsoidal or laterally compressed, variously indented or smooth, light brown, hilum short, raphe branches ascending and curved laterally from raphe, anastomosing somewhat abaxially, endosperm homogeneous; embryo basal. Germination adjacent-ligular; eophyll bifid. Cytology not known.
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