Monographs Details:
Authority:

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

Arecaceae
Scientific Name:

Hyospathe Mart.
Description:

Genus Description - Small, monoecious palms; stems arundinaceous; leaf-sheaths long tubular; lamina simple to irregularly pinnate. Inflorescences with two papyraceous, deciduous bracts, simply branched with slender rachillas; staminate flowers with nectaries at the base of the petals. Fruit with a basal stigmatic remain, albumen homogeneous.

Discussion:

Type. H. elegans Martius.

Hyospathe is a uniform genus with only a few species from tropical South America. Only one collection is known from the Guayana Highland which was subsequently described as a separate species: