Aiphanes is a genus of spiny palms native to South and Central America and the Caribbean. There are about 26 species in the genus, ranging in size from understorey shrubs with subterranean stems to subcanopy trees as tall as 20 metres. Most have pinnately compound leaves ; one species has entire leaves. Two species are widely planted as ornamentals and the fruit, seeds or palm heart of several species have been eaten by indigenous peoples of the Americas for millennia.
About Aiphanes in brief
Aiphanes is a genus of spiny palms native to South and Central America and the Caribbean. There are about 26 species in the genus, ranging in size from understorey shrubs with subterranean stems to subcanopy trees as tall as 20 metres. Most have pinnately compound leaves ; one species has entire leaves. Stems, leaves and sometimes even the fruit are covered with spines. Two species are widely planted as ornamentals and the fruit, seeds or palm heart of several species have been eaten by indigenous peoples of the Americas for millennia. Spines are derived from the outer tissues of the plant and are not derived through the modification of other organs. They are found almost everywhere on the plants and are especially found on the stem, leaf bases, peduncle and the peduncle of Aiphanes species. The name combines the Ancient Greek ai, meaning ‘always’ and phaneros, which means ‘visible’ or ‘conspicuous’. Some species are single-stemmed, others form multi-stemed clumps. A variety of growth forms can exist within a single species and this appears to be influenced by habitat and environmental conditions. Several species aresingle- stemmed understoreY palms, an unusual growth form. Two other species are acaulescent populations and those which produce above-ground stems. Aiphane grandis and A. minima are one of the most widely planted ornamentals in the Americas.
The fruit are eaten by several birds and mammals, including at least two species of amazon parrots. The leaves are usually spirally arranged, but some species have a distichous leaf arrangement, a condition that is normal in palm seedlings but uncommon among adults. Old bases detach cleanly from the stem except in A. hirsuta subsp. Karst which often has old portions of the stem attached to the newer portions of its stem. Leaves are spiny but the spiny sheaths are always smaller than the spines, usually towards the ends of the leaves. The sole exception to this is A macroloba which has entire Leaves. Two of the species are characterised by an acaulescous growth habit—A. acaulis and spicata. The other two are solitary or caespitose palms that grow in the forest understoresy and lack an aboveground stem. The genus is most closely related to Acrocomia, Astrocaryum, Bactris and Desmoncus. It is also related to the genus Caryota and the subtribe Bactridina. It has been used as a name for the genus Martinezia between 1847 and 1932, and between 18 1947 and 1932 it was generally used in place of Aphanes. It was used to refer to a species of palm that grows in the rainforests of Central and South America and South East Asia.
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This page is based on the article Aiphanes published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
