Leopoldinia
Encyclopedia
Leopoldinia is a mostly monoecious genus
of flowering plant
in the palm
family from South America
where they are known as jará palm or pissava palm. The three species
are commercially important, especially L. piassaba, which yields sustenance and construction material. The genus is named for Maria Leopoldina
, archduchess of Austria
, and Brazil
ian empress.
leaves, up to 5 m, are carried on long, hairy petioles which disintegrate into black, fibrous masses against the trunk. The 1 m leaflets are once-folded, linear, regularly arranged, and either acuminate or briefly bifid.
The much branched inflorescence
is short, brown, and hairy and emerges within the leaf crown. There may be male and female flowers on different inflorescences, they may alternate along the same branches, in some cases the female flowers are proximal while the male's are distal, some are hermaphroditic
and others are simply, but rarely, dioecious. Developing from one carpel, the fruit
matures to red in color, may be ellipsoidal, laterally flattened or disciform, and contains one seed
.
, southern Venezuela
and Colombia's
Amazonian
regions, all are low lying and occupy periodically flooded, tropical rain forest. Both L. major and L. pulchra grow on stony islands and alongside the banks of the Rio Negro and other blackwater rivers; L. piassaba grows in conspicuous groves, most commonly on sandy flats. L. major is the only one which will reach and contribute to the forest canopy, the others are strictly undergrowth subjects.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
family from South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
where they are known as jará palm or pissava palm. The three species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
are commercially important, especially L. piassaba, which yields sustenance and construction material. The genus is named for Maria Leopoldina
Maria Leopoldina of Austria
Maria Leopoldina of Austria was an archduchess of Austria, Empress consort of Brazil and queen consort of Portugal....
, archduchess of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian empress.
Description
The trunks are clustering in L. major, occasionally clustering in L. pulchra, and solitary in L. piassaba; they reach 15 cm wide to 6 m tall, and are usually covered in old, extremely fibrous leaf bases. The pinnatePinnate
Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning "feather", "wing", or "fin". A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts...
leaves, up to 5 m, are carried on long, hairy petioles which disintegrate into black, fibrous masses against the trunk. The 1 m leaflets are once-folded, linear, regularly arranged, and either acuminate or briefly bifid.
The much branched inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is short, brown, and hairy and emerges within the leaf crown. There may be male and female flowers on different inflorescences, they may alternate along the same branches, in some cases the female flowers are proximal while the male's are distal, some are hermaphroditic
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
and others are simply, but rarely, dioecious. Developing from one carpel, the fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
matures to red in color, may be ellipsoidal, laterally flattened or disciform, and contains one seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
.
Distribution and habitat
Endemic to western BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, southern Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and Colombia's
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
Amazonian
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
regions, all are low lying and occupy periodically flooded, tropical rain forest. Both L. major and L. pulchra grow on stony islands and alongside the banks of the Rio Negro and other blackwater rivers; L. piassaba grows in conspicuous groves, most commonly on sandy flats. L. major is the only one which will reach and contribute to the forest canopy, the others are strictly undergrowth subjects.