Oenocarpus

Authority

Maguire, Bassett. 1972. The botany of the Guayana Highland--part IX. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 23: 1-832.

Family

Arecaceae

Scientific Name

Oenocarpus

Discussion

Type. Oenocarpus bacaba Martius, lectotype.

Monoecious palms; leaves pinnate with heavy, ligulate leaf-sheaths tubular but split at the ventral side, more or less fibrous at margin. Inflorescences infrafoliar with a stout, erect axis and long, slender, drooping rachillas. This genus with a limited number of species is mainly known from the Amazon basin and adjacent regions from sea level up to about 1200 m altitude. One species occurs in Panama. Three species are frequently observed on the lower mountain-slopes of the Guayana Highland.