Aiphanes duquei
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Aiphanes duquei is a species of palm that is endemic to Colombia. Known from only a small area in the Cordillera Occidental, it is threatened by habitat loss and forest management practices.
Description
Aiphanes duquei is a small palm up to Script error: No such module "convert". tall with stems about Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter which are covered with black spines up to Script error: No such module "convert". long. Stems grow singly, not in clonal clusters. Individuals have between 8 and 9 leaves which consists of a leaf sheath, a petiole and a rachis. Leaf sheaths, which wrap around the stem, are Script error: No such module "convert". long. Petioles are yellow to brown, Script error: No such module "convert". long, and are covered with spines up to Script error: No such module "convert". long. Rachises are Script error: No such module "convert"., and scattered spines up to Script error: No such module "convert". long. Leaves each bear 23 to 35 pairs of leaflets.[1]
The male flowers, which are purple in colour, are Script error: No such module "convert". long. The female flowers are larger—Script error: No such module "convert". long. The fruit are red, Script error: No such module "convert". long.[1]
Taxonomy
The species was first described by German botanist Max Burret in 1937 based on a collection made in November 1936 by Colombian botanist J.M. Duque.[2] The generic epithet, Aiphanes, coined by German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1801, derives from Greek ai, meaning "always" and phaneros, meaning "evident", "visible" or "conspicuous".[1] The specific epithet, duquei, honours the collector, J.M. Duque.[2]
Burret placed Aiphanes duquei in the subgenus Brachyanthera,[2] one of the two subgenera into which he divided the genus. While Borchsenius and Bernal recognised the other subgenus, Macroanthera as a potentially cohesive unit, they concluded that the remaining subgenus Brachyanthera would be overly heterogeneous, and consequently abandoned Burret's use of subgenera.[1]
Distribution and status
Aiphanes duquei is endemic to an area of Script error: No such module "convert". in the Cordillera Occidental in Colombia.[3] It is found in cloudy, lower montane wet and rain forests,[1] primarily in the Munchique and Farallones de Cali National Parks.[3]
On the basis of its limited distribution, and the fact that its habitat is vulnerable to expanding agriculture and forest management practices, it is classified as a vulnerable species.[3]
References
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