Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Plants semelparous.

Stems: Stems clustered, to 10 m tall, 8–20 cm in diam., columnar.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves compound. Leaves borne along upper half of stem. Leaf sheaths closed, not forming crownshafts. Leaves bipinnate, each primary pinna made up of several secondary pinnae borne on a secondary rachis terminated by a pinna; individual secondary pinnae triangular, with jagged outer margins. Petioles 80–200 cm; rachis 2–2.8 m; primary pinnae 9–23 per side of rachis; secondary pinnae 10–20 per side of secondary rachis, with jagged margins and elongate apices. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences borne among or below leaves, to 85 cm; rachillae 20–60, 25–65 cm, covered with many persistent bracts. Flowers unisexual (and the plants monoecious). Flowering proceeding from top of stem downward (basipetal), borne in threes of 1 central female and 2 lateral male. Calyx of 3 sepals; sepals ca. 3 mm. Corolla of 3 petals, petals purple to maroon and 12-15 mm long (male flowers) or petals 4-5 mm long (female flowers). Stamens 12–24 (male flowers). Ovary superior.

Fruit: Fruits purple–black or reddish; globose; to 2 cm in diam; mesocarp filled with irritant needle–shaped crystals; germination remote; eophylls with jagged margins.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Lowland rain forests; secondary forests; disturbed areas; and often cultivated.

Elevation Range: below 1,000 m.