Aiphanes chiribogensis

Aiphanes chiribogensis is a small palm up to 3 metres tall with stems 3–6 centimetres in diameter which are fiercely armed with black spines up to 6 cm long. Stems grow singly, not in clonal clusters. Individuals have between 5 and 9 leaves which consists of a leaf sheath, a petiole and a rachis. Leaf sheaths, which wrap around the stem, are 20 to 40 cm long. They are violet on the inside, brown, scaly and covered with black or brown spines on the outside. Petioles are green, 12 to 45 cm long, and are covered with scattered spines. Rachises are green, 48 to 100 cm , and lack spines. Leaves each bear 12 to 17 pairs of leaflets.

Aiphanes chiribogensis is a species of palm which is endemic to western Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. More

The original description for Aiphanes chiribogensis was automatically generated from Wikipedia.org licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. More