Iriartella setigera

Iriartella (ihr-ee-ahr-TEHL-lah) setigera (seh-tih-JEH-rah)
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Scientific Classification
Genus: Iriartella (ihr-ee-ahr-TEHL-lah) Species: setigera (seh-tih-JEH-rah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
America
Morphology
Habit: Clustering Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

Brazil North, Colombia, Guyana, and Venezuela. Tropical jungle, near the blackwater streams of the Amazon Northwest, in southeastern Colombia and southern Venezuela. Not found in Central America. [[]]

Description

A medium sized palm attaining 12 m, with a diameter of 1.5 to 4 cm. Four to eight leaves sideways pendulous form a crown, each of its leaves are 20 to 80 cm long with 2 to 8 pinnae, rhombic each side measuring 10-35 cm long and 5-10 cm wide. The inflorescence has up to 20 rachillae. The fruits are orange and darken as they mature, are 1.5 to 1 cm.

Comments and Curiosities

Etymology: Iriartella: Generic name combining the genus name Iriartea (Very closely related.) with the diminutive suffix She = "small", meaning "little Iriartea". setigera : The specific epithet from the Latin meaning "bristle, stiff hairs."

Uses: Indigenous-The shaft of the fishing arrows is occasionally made from Iriartella setigera. Indians of the Vaupés region near the Brazilian border use of slender stems of Iriartella setigera and particularly Cuatrecasea spruceana for making their blowings canes or blowguns. The superbly accurate blowpipe, locally called serbatana, constructed from the trunk of the palm, Iriartella setigera. The macerated leaves are applied to the head to kill lice.