Mauritiella Burret Original reference: Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 12: 609 (1935) Morphology: Large, dioecious palms. Stems clustered, tall, armed with short, 1-3 cm long, conical root-spines. Leaves costapalmate, reduplicate, with main ribs radiating from a short axis, deeply split (but not to base) into one-ribbed segments. Inflorescences branched 2 times; each branch with a large ochreate bract at the base. Male flowers with 3 sepals united into a tubular calyx, 3 basally united petals, 6 stamens, and usually no pistillode. Female flowers with a similar calyx, 3 petals united for half their length, 6 staminodes, and 3 united carpels. Fruit medium sized, covered with adnate scales. Seedling leaves bifid. Distribution and diversity: Three species in NW South America, growing in inundated areas along black water lakes and streams and in savanna areas. One species is known to Ecuador. Synonym list (1)

Habit of Mauritiella armata Photo: AAU palm archive Palms of Ecuador Home Mauritiella armata