Iriartea deltoidea

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Figure 1. I. deltoidea poking above the canopy.

Common Names:

Stilt Palm,
Copa Palm,
Barrigona Palm,
Huacrapona (local name)

Distribution & Habitat:

South American rainforest.

Description:

Very attractive, tall, stilt rooted palm to 30m, with dark green plumose leaves, a green/yellowish crownshaft, and a white, ventricose trunk.

General:

Provides a very hard, rot-resistant timber. Used by the local indians for housing; the logs are split, the spongy centre removed, and the hard outer trunk is used for flooring.

Culture:

Warm, sheltered and moist. Very tropical in its requirements.

Figure 2. Looking up into a I. deltoidea.

Figure 3. I. deltoidea inflorescence, and infructescence.

(this bridge was 60 - 80 feet off the ground below).

Figure 5. I. deltoidea at Arenal Volcano north-western Costa Rica.

Figure 6. I. deltoidea showing the lovely plumose leaf.

Figure 7. I. deltoidea leaflet detail.

Figure 8. I. deltoidea stilt roots

Figure 9. Leaflets of I. deltoidea

Contributed by:

Jeff Anderson (Figure 1,4,5,6,7&8)
Trinidad Bob (Figure 2&3)
Rolf Kyburz (Figure 9)

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk