Desmoncus

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Desmoncus

1863 Illustration from

Naturalist on the River Amazons

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Tracheophytes

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Monocots
 Clade: Commelinids

Order: Arecales

Family: Arecaceae

Subfamily: Arecoideae

Tribe: Cocoseae

Genus: Desmoncus
Mart.

Synonyms[1]

 Atitara Barrère ex Kuntze 1891,

illegitimate homonym, not Marcgr. ex

Juss. 1816

 Desmonchus Desf., spelling
variation

Desmoncus is a genus of mostly climbing, spiny palms native to the Neotropics.

The genus extends from Mexico in the north to Brazil and Bolivia in the south,
with two species present in the southeastern Caribbean (Trinidad and
the Windward Islands).[1][2][3]

Contents

 1Description
 2Taxonomy
 3Distribution
 4Species
 5References

Description[edit]
Desmoncus is best known as a genus of climbing palms. Twenty-three of the 24
species recognised by Andrew Henderson in his revision of the genus are
climbers; only one, D. stans is free-standing.[3]:7–16 Almost all Neotropical climbing
palms belong to Desmoncus—the one exception being Chamaedorea elatior.[3]:3

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius's drawing of Desmoncus polyacanthos shows the features of the leaf
(sheath, petiole, rachis, leaflets, and cirrus) and the inflorescence with its associated bract.

Most Desmoncus species climb using grappling hook-like structures called acanthopylls.

Desmoncus leaves are pinnately compound and are made up of a leaf

sheath, petioles, rachis, and individual leaflets. The ends of the leaves are
modified into a climbing structure called a cirrus. Instead of leaflets, the cirrus
usually has grappling hook-like structures called acanthopylls; in some species
the cirrus is less well developed and is almost absent in D. stans, the non-
climbing species.[3]:8–10
All parts of the leaves, including the leaflets themselves, are covered with spines.
Most species have straight spines that are over 1 centimetre (0.4 in) long, but a
few species have curved spines that are less than 1 cm long. [3]:8–10

Taxonomy[edit]
 
    A
    c
r
o
c
o
m
ia
 
 
Desmoncus
 
   
Aiphanes
   
   
Astrocaryum
   
 
Bactris
 

Simplified diagram of the relationship between

members of the subtribe Bactridinae, based
on plastid and nuclear DNA phylogeny.[4]
 
  D
  e
s
m
o
n
c
u
s
o
rt
h
a
c
a
n
t
h
o
s
 
   
Bactris gasipaes
   
   
Aiphanes aculeata*
   
   
Acrocomia crispa
   
 
Acrocomia aculeata
 

Relationship between members of the subtribe

Bactridinae, based on plastid DNA phylogeny.
[5]
 *Aiphanes aculeata is a botanical synonym of A.
horrida.
John Dransfield and colleagues put Desmoncus in the subfamily Arecoideae,
the tribe Cocoseae and the subtribe Bactridinae, together
with Aiphanes, Acrocomia, Astrocaryum and Bactris.[6]
The genus was described by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius in 1824. The first
species described was D. polyacanthos.[3]:16 Martius later described six additional
species that he placed in the genus. In this 1881 Flora Brasiliensis, Carl Georg
Oscar Drude recognised 17 species. João Barbosa Rodrigues recognised 28
species in his 1903 work Setum Palmarum Brasiliensis.[3]:3–4
Max Burret published a revision of the entire genus in 1934. Burret described
nine new species and ended up recognising a total of 41 species. In the 1940s,
Liberty Hyde Bailey added 14 additional species to the genus Desmoncus. Jan
Wessels Boer rejected the species concept used by Bailey, Barbosa Rodrigues,
and Burret as being too narrow and ended up recognising only seven species [3]:3–
4
 In his 2011 revision of the genus, Andrew Henderson recognised 24 species. [3]

Distribution[edit]
Desmoncus ranges from Mexico in the north to Bolivia and Brazil in the south.
Most species occur at lower elevations, but some species range as high as 1,000
metres (3,300 ft) above sea level. The species are mostly found in lowland
tropical rainforest. Twelve species occur in Colombia, the most species-rich
country, while 10 are found in Brazil.[3]:7

Species[edit]
 Desmoncus chinantlensis Liebm. ex Mart. – southern Mexico and Central
America (Veracruz to Nicaragua)
 Desmoncus cirrhifer A.H.Gentry & Zardini – Panama, Colombia, Ecuador
 Desmoncus costaricensis (Kuntze) Burret – Costa Rica
 Desmoncus giganteus A.J.Hend. – Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, western Brazil
 Desmoncus horridus Splitg. ex Mart. – Trinidad, Venezuela, the Guianas,
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil
 Desmoncus interjectus A.J.Hend. – Colombia
 Desmoncus kunarius de Nevers ex A.J.Hend. – Panama
 Desmoncus latisectus Burret – Bolivia
 Desmoncus leptoclonos Drude – Paraguay, Brazil
 Desmoncus loretanus A.J.Hend. – Loreto region of Peru
 Desmoncus madrensis A.J.Hend. – Peru
 Desmoncus mitis Mart. – Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia
 Desmoncus moorei A.J.Hend. – Nicaragua, Costa Rica
 Desmoncus myriacanthos Dugand. – Panama, Colombia, Venezuela
 Desmoncus obovoideus A.J.Hend. – Panama
 Desmoncus orthacanthos Mart. – eastern Brazil
 Desmoncus osensis A.J.Hend. – Costa Rica
 Desmoncus parvulus L.H.Bailey – Venezuela, Colombia, northwestern
Brazil, the Guianas
 Desmoncus polyacanthos Mart. – Trinidad, Windward Islands, Venezuela,
the Guianas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil
 Desmoncus prunifer Poepp. ex Mart. – Loreto region of Peru
 Desmoncus pumilus Trail. – Colombia, northwestern Brazil
 Desmoncus setosus Mart. – Colombia, northwestern Brazil
 Desmoncus stans Grayum & Nevers – Costa Rica
 Desmoncus vacivus L.H.Bailey – Colombia, northwestern Brazil, Peru