Chamaedorea robertii

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Chamaedorea
(kahm-eh-doh-REH-ah)
robertii (roh-BEHR-tee)
Chamaedorea-robertii.jpg
Photo-Rare Palm Seeds.com
Scientific Classification
Genus: Chamaedorea
(kahm-eh-doh-REH-ah)
Species:
robertii (roh-BEHR-tee)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
America
America.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

Costa Rica, and Panamá. PANAMA. Bocas del Toro. Chiriqui. Cocle. Veraguas. COSTA RICA.
Jerry & Cindy Andersen's Garden (J.D. Andersen Nursery), Hawaii. Photo by Jack Sayers.
Alajuela. Heredia. Guanacaste. San Jose. Dense, wet forest mainly on the Atlantic slope; 650-1,500 m elevation.

Description

Appearance and Biology-Horticultural Characteristics

Habit: solitary, decumbent then shortly erect, to 1 m tall but often appearing stemless. Stem: 2.5 cm diam., creeping at or slightly below leaf litter, green, prominently ringed, internodes 1.5 cm long. Leaves: 5-7, erect-spreading, bifid; sheath to 12 cm long, splitting deeply opposite petiole, tubular only in basal 1/3 green, ragged and brown-margined apically; petiole 20-25 cm long, flattened and green above and slightly channeled from lower margins of blade extending downward to sheath, rounded and green below; rachis 20 cm long, angled and green above, rounded and green below; blade 40-50 x 20 cm, incised apically to nearly 1/2 its length, each lobe 20-25 cm long, rich green, tips 18-20 cm apart, acuminate, 12-16 raised and prominent primary nerves on each side of rachis, secondaries numerous and faint, margin conspicuously toothed. Inflorescences: infrafoliar or sometimes interfoliar, often emerging from the leaf litter of forest floor, spicate. Staminate with peduncle to 25 cm long, 5 mm wide at base and there ± flattened, 4 mm diam. at apex, erect-ascending, pale green or yellowish where exposed in flower; bracts 5, prophyll 2 cm long, 2nd bract 3-4 cm, 3rd 5 cm, 4th 12 cm, 5th 15 cm, acutea-cuminate, greenish at anthesis, ageing to dark brown or nearly black, tubular, especially upper ones inflated apically to 8 mm diam. For 2/3 their length, ± leathery, longitudinally striate-nerved, uppermost equalling or slightly exceeding peduncle, sometimes 5th bract very short and concealed by 4th one; rachis or fiowerbearing portion to 10-15 cm long, 3-4 mm diam., pendulous, whitish, longitudinally ridged around each flower. Pistillate ascending but often spreading in fruit; peduncle similar to that of staminate but orange in fruit; bracts 5, similar to those of staminate but burgundy in color when newly emerged, browning only slightly by anthesis, brownish in fruit; rachis to 10 cm long, ± stiff, horizontal, pale yellow or whitish in flower, 5 mm diam., orange in fruit. Flowers: Staminate in 3 dense spirals, closely placed but not contiguous, 5 x 3.5 mm, bullet-shaped, greenish, sunken in elliptic pits 3-4 mm long; calyx 1-1.25 x 3.5 mm, membranous, whitish tinged with green apically, shallowly lobed, sepals imbricate in basal 3/4, broadly rounded apically; petals 4 x 3 mm, valvate, free more than 1/2 to base, erect, acute, whitish basally; stamens exserted beyond petals, filaments 4 x 0.6 mm, columnar, clear-colored, anthers 1.25 mm long, bilobed, held beyond petals; pistillode 4 x 0.75 mm, columnar, clear-colored, 3-lobed apically. Pistillate densely arranged, some contiguous but most not, 11.5 mm distant, 2.5 x 3.5 mm, subhemispherical, yellow, sunken in circular depressions 4 mm across; calyx 1 x 3.5 mm, pale yellowish or whitish, very shallowly and inconspicuously lobed, sepals imbricate nearly to apex; petals 2.5 x 4.5-5 mm, imbricate nearly to apex, erect, truncate and mucronate apically; pistil 2.5 x 3-3.5 mm, strongly depressed-globose, pale yellowish, styles very short or lacking, stigma lobes erect, pointed. Fruits: 7 mm diam., globose, black, densely crowded.

C. robertii is an attractive and unusual species due to its bifid, heavily nerved leaves, stemless habit, and spicate inflorescences. The flowerbearing portion of the staminate inflorescence is pendulous and densely crowded with relatively large, white-tinged-with-green flowers. The pistillate inflorescence has densely crowded, yellow flowers and attractive, burgundy-colored bracts sheathing the peduncle. Chamaedorea robertii is most closely related to C. pumila and C. sullivaniorum. Bluish or grayish iridescent green leaves with more closely toothed margins, branched staminate inflorescences with greenish-yellow flowers, and green pistillate flowers distinguish the latter two species. Also, C. robertii differs from C. pumila in the larger, broader leaves with more nerves (12-15 rather than 10) and from C. sullivaniorum in the more deeply bifid blade. C. robertii occurs in a few collections in California, Hawaii, and Australia.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10a

PFC for PP.png

Comments and Curiosities

Etymology: Honors Don Hodel's son Robert, co-collector of the type.

This exquisite, solitary dwarf palm sports a slender, decumbent or shortly erect trunk that holds a small crown of deeply bifid, pleated leaves. The short inflorescences are unbranched, the black fruits are held in a compact cone. Chamaedorea robertii is native to the undergrowth of rainforests in Costa Rica and Panama between 650 and 1500 m. It is very rare in cultivation and does best in humid, frost free warm temperate or cooler tropical climates. (RPS.com)



External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).


Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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