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86 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 28
furfuracea, parte inferiore pubescente, aculeis fuscis 11-40 mm.
longis abundanter instructa; pinnis plerumque alternatis vel suboppositis,
utrinque 23-25, sessilibus anguste lanceolatis ad apicera
acuminatis, ad basim angustatis, 20-30 cm. longis, 2-3 cm. latis,
glabris praeter utrinque lineas fusco-furfuraceas aut tomentosas per
nervos, supra omnino glabrescentibus, utrinque in costa media
aculeis 2-6 fuscis, 13-32 mm. longis armatis, aculeis praesertim
basi et parte inferiore saepe pubescentibus; spatha superiore aut
interiore elliptica, 30 cm. longa, 8-10.5 cm. lata, tomentosa fusca,
aculeis brevibus tenuibus nigro-fuscis basi straminea bulbosocrassiuscula
oriundus; spadice simpliciter ramoso 15 cm. longo
fusco vel purpureo-fusco-furfuraceo; spadicis ramis 37 angulatis
undulatis 10-15 cm. longis, 2 mm. crassis, prope basim atro-fuscofurfuraceis
aliter glabris; floribus foemineis: calyce cupulare gamosepala
0.5 mm. alta margine 3-apiculata; corolla gamopetala pluristriata
3-lobata, 1.5 mm. alta, lobis suborbicularibus, late rotunda tis,
per margines obscures, 1.5 mm. alta, 2 mm. lata; spadicis pedunculo
compresso, parte superiore 5 cm. longa, 1 cm. crassa, purpureofusco-furfuracea
aculeis brevibus nigris 3-5 mm. longis praedita,
parte inferiore 11 cm. longa, inermi; drupa novella ovoideo-oblonga
superne subito angustata, 8.5-9 mm. longa, 5 mm. crassa.
Pinnae closely but unequally distributed along the rachis, membranaceous,
grass dull green above, dull paler green below, narrowly
lanceolate, tapering to an acuminate apex, gradually narrowed to
base, armed on midnerve and lower and upper leaf surfaces with 2-6
dark brown spines 13-32 mm. long, the spines often pubescent,
especially at base and lower half, the leaf surface glabrous except
for brown-furfuraceous or tomentose lines along one or more nerves
above and below, becoming entirely glabrescent above; rachis
fuscous-furfuraceous throughout; upper spathe moderately armed with
short slender black-brown spines 6-11 mm. long, arising from a
bulbous-thickened buff-colored base; drupe becoming scarlet.
Type in herb. Chi. Nat. Hist. Mus., collected in vicinity of
Tumeremo, between south of town and airport, state of Bolivar, alt.
305 m., December 18, 1944, Julian A. Steyermark 60968.
Known locally as "Camuari". The stems are stripped of their
spines and split into lengths which are woven into various types of
baskets (cana ate) and back carriers (guayare).
This species is characterized by its numerous closely and unequally
spaced pinnae, elongate black spines of the brown-furfuraceous
leaf rachis, the spiny leaves, and the spiny broadly ovate
inner spathe.
It is most closely related to D. rudentum Mart., D.
horrid us Splitgerb., D. palustris Trail, and D. angustisectus Burret,
to which group
it
belongs by reason of the broad ovate inner spathe,
and, following Burret's establishment of the section Orthacanthium,
by the straight instead of recurved pairs of hooks, but from all these