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Family: Arecaceae
Corozo, more...sama
[Corozo oleifera (Kunth) L.H.Bailey] |
Descripción: Palma que alcanza de 1 a 6 m de alto. Tronco solitario, inclinado en la base y vertical hacia el ápice. Hojas pinnadas y alternas, de 2-4 m de largo, ligeramente arqueadas hacia el ápice. Folíolos 80 o más y arreglados en un mismo plano a lo largo del raquis. Pecíolo de 1.5-3 m de largo y con espinas en los bordes. Inflorescencias compactas y erectas saliendo entre las bases de las hojas. Flores blancas. Frutos en drupas ovaladas o elipsoidales, de 2-3 cm de largo, verdes o amarillentos, tornándose anaranjados o rojos al madurar. Datos Ecológicos: La especie crece a bajas elevaciones, en bosques húmedos o muy húmedos. En Panamá se encuentra en las provincias de Chiriquí, Colón, Darién y Veraguas. Común en áreas pantanosas e inundables, también a orillas de ríos y riachuelos. Florece y fructifica de febrero a junio. Especies Parecidas: A menudo se confunde con LK phytse Phytelephas seemannii LK2 , pero en P. seemannii los frutos tienen forma de una cabeza humana y presentan crestas cónicas pequeñas en la superficie exterior. También los pecíolos de las hojas de E. oleifera tienen espinas y los de P. seemannii no tienen espinas. Usos: El aceite de los frutos se emplea para cocinar y como cosmético para el cabello. La grasa de los frutos se usa para fabricar jabón y velas. Las fibras que quedan después de extraer el aceite de los frutos conjuntamente con la pelusa de las bases de las hojas se usan para encender fuego. Los indígenas de Darién en Panamá comen los brotes tiernos de las hojas, crudos o cocidos. Monoecious tree, 4-5 m tall; trunk at first decumbent, the upright part to 2 m high, 30 cm or more thick, bearing old leaf bases; crown usually broader than tree height. Leaves broadly spreading, the tips of the lower leaves often touching the ground; petioles 1-2 m long, 9-12 cm broad near base, broadly canaliculate, the sharp edges bearing spinelike teeth; rachis roughened on underside with brown scales; blades 2-4 m long; leaflets regular, in 60-110 pairs, to ca 1 m long, 4-6 cm wide, the apex oblique, the midrib prominent on upper surface with 2 faint marginal ribs on lower surface. Inflorescences borne among leaf axils; spathes thin, obscure, soon becoming a mass of dilacerating fibers, the outer spathes to 30 cm long, the inner to 50 cm long in staminate flowers, to 60 cm long in pistillate; staminate inflorescences soon weathering, the peduncles 20-35 cm long, ca 1 cm thick, the rachillae numerous, 20-25 cm long, ca 1 cm thick; stamens 6, the filaments partly united into a staminal tube ca 3 mm long; pistillate inflorescences 30-40 cm long, the peduncles ca 40 cm long, the rachillae stout, irregular, 4-9 cm long, closely compacted, pointed at apex; flowers white, sunken in rachillae, subtended by 2 or 3 bracts; tepals 6, ca 8 mm long; staminodial rings 6-dentate, ca 2 mm high; styles white, exserted and receptive for about a day, then becoming black; fruiting inflorescences usually broader than high, to 30 cm wide. Fruits orange, of irregular shapes due to mutual pressure, 2-3.5 cm long, often with persistent styles; seeds 1-3. Croat 5203, 5539. Common only at the margin of the lake, but seen also in the seasonally swampy area near Standley Trail 500 and below the escarpment south of Armour Trail 700. Seasonal behavior uncertain. Flowers have been seen only during the early rainy season, but since flowers last for such a short time with the old inflorescences persisting, it cannot be said that flowering does not occur over a longer period of time. The fruits are present all year on some individuals, but most mature during the late dry or early rainy seasons. Individuals may bear more than one fruiting inflorescence in different stages, indicating the possibility that the plant flowers more than once a year. Standley's plate VI in the Flora of Barro Colorado Island (1933), labeled Corozo oleifera, isScheelea zonensis. Bailey (1943) reported that fruits are black at maturity. My observations indicate that the fruits become loose and fall while still orange. However, fruits that are not able to fall free do become black. Central America to Colombia and the Guianas (perhaps only introduced into northern South America). In Panama, a characteristic element of premontane wet forest (Tosi,1971); known also from tropical moist forest on BCI and in Darién. Collected from tropical wet forest in Costa Rica (Holdridge et al., 1971). Bocas Species Database Habitat: Grows in marshes and easily flooded areas. Characteristics: Palm tree that reaches from 1 to 6 m in height. Single trunk. White flowers, fruits oval and reddish orange in color. |