Synechanthus
Encyclopedia
Synechanthus is a monoecious genus
of flowering plant
in the palm
family found in Mexico
, Central
and South America
. Commonly called bola, palmilla, or jelly bean palm, they are closely related to members of Chamaedorea
, only distinguished by their flower and fruit form. The Greek
genus name is a combination of "united" and "flower".
is over a meter long, borne on a 30 cm petiole; the rachis is angled above and rounded below, the leaflets are slightly offset, occasionally twisting, the apical set being widest.
The inflorescence
emerges in the leaf crown but sags pendent in fruit, once or twice branched and solitary. The peduncle is long and the prophyll short and tubular, disintegrating into a fibrous mass at the base. There are four to five peduncular bracts, longer than the prophyll, with the distalmost exceeding the peduncle. The rachis is elongated bearing slender rachillae with slender, spinelike tips. The flower
s are arranged on the rachillae such that the pistillate members are proximal, with 5 - 13 staminate flowers at the distal end.
The staminate flowers mature from green to yellow, triangular in bud, with three sepals fused into a lobed cupule and three valvate petals. They carry three or six stamens on short, recurved filaments with basifixed, latrose anthers with elliptic, monosulcate pollen and scabrate, tectate exine. The pistillode, when present, is small, ovoid and three lobed. The pistillate flowers are also yellow with three cupped sepals and three longer, imbricate petals. When staminodes are present there are three, joined in a ring; the gynoecum is ovoid, triocular and triovulate. The three stigmas are recurved with elongated, laterally attached ovules. The large fruit
is round or slightly egg shaped, maturing to bright red or orange in color, with a fleshy mesocarp and a membranous endocarp. The single seed
has homogeneous endosperm and a centrally placed embryo
.
, Guatemala
, Honduras
, Nicaragua
, Costa Rica
, Panama
, Colombia
and Ecuador
. They are rain forest inhabitants,
usually confined to the understory
, from sea level to 1200 m.
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 found in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Central
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and 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...
. Commonly called bola, palmilla, or jelly bean palm, they are closely related to members of Chamaedorea
Chamaedorea
Chamaedorea is a genus of 107 species of palms, native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas.. The name is derived from the Greek words χαμαί , meaning "on the ground," and δωρεά , meaning "gift." It refers to the easily reached fruits or the plants' low-growing nature.Chamaedorea...
, only distinguished by their flower and fruit form. The Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
genus name is a combination of "united" and "flower".
Description
S. fibrosus is solitary while S. warscewiczianus is clustering. The trunks of both are slender, rarely more than 2.5 cm wide, growing to 4.5 m tall; usually dark green, they are ringed by white leaf scars. S. warscewiczianus will usually have a dominant main stem with smaller clustering units surrounding it. The pinnate leafLeaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
is over a meter long, borne on a 30 cm petiole; the rachis is angled above and rounded below, the leaflets are slightly offset, occasionally twisting, the apical set being widest.
The 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...
emerges in the leaf crown but sags pendent in fruit, once or twice branched and solitary. The peduncle is long and the prophyll short and tubular, disintegrating into a fibrous mass at the base. There are four to five peduncular bracts, longer than the prophyll, with the distalmost exceeding the peduncle. The rachis is elongated bearing slender rachillae with slender, spinelike tips. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are arranged on the rachillae such that the pistillate members are proximal, with 5 - 13 staminate flowers at the distal end.
The staminate flowers mature from green to yellow, triangular in bud, with three sepals fused into a lobed cupule and three valvate petals. They carry three or six stamens on short, recurved filaments with basifixed, latrose anthers with elliptic, monosulcate pollen and scabrate, tectate exine. The pistillode, when present, is small, ovoid and three lobed. The pistillate flowers are also yellow with three cupped sepals and three longer, imbricate petals. When staminodes are present there are three, joined in a ring; the gynoecum is ovoid, triocular and triovulate. The three stigmas are recurved with elongated, laterally attached ovules. The large 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,...
is round or slightly egg shaped, maturing to bright red or orange in color, with a fleshy mesocarp and a membranous endocarp. The single 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...
has homogeneous endosperm and a centrally placed embryo
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
.
Distribution and habitat
Synthechanthus palms are found in MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Colombia
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...
and Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. They are rain forest inhabitants,
usually confined to the understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
, from sea level to 1200 m.