Geonoma
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Authority
Maguire, Bassett. 1972. The botany of the Guayana Highland--part IX. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 23: 1-832.
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Family
Arecaceae
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Scientific Name
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Discussion
Type. G. simplicifrons Willdenow.
Monoecious, usually rather small palms; leaves simple to more or less pinnate, bifid at apex. Inflorescences with flower triads deeply immersed in flowerpits; pistil with a basifixed trifid style enclosed by a staminodial tube. The genus Geonoma with about 75 species is widespread in tropical South America with a definite preference for tropical and montane forests at low and middle elevations but several species are adapted to higher altitudes, up to about 3000 m elevation. Two species, G. appuniana and G. fusca, are apparently endemic in the Guayana Highland; a third species, G. euspatha, is frequently observed in this area but has a wider distribution. A number of other species are more or less common on the mountain-slopes at lower elevations with an altitudinal boundary at about 600-750 m. Geonoma baculifera, the commonest Geonoma species of the Guianas, occurs up to about 500 m elevation.