A Resource for Pests and Diseases of Cultivated Palms
Identifying Commonly Cultivated Palms
Common Name
Bamboo Palm, Reed Palm
Description
Stems: Clustering, to 3 m tall and 1-2 cm in diameter, with conspicuous leaf scars, growing in dense clumps. Leaves: Pinnate, reduplicate, to 60 cm long, with variably shaped (more or less linear to lanceolate or sigmoid) leaflets evenly spaced along the rachis and spreading in a single plane. Upper and lower leaflet surfaces are glossy green, without spines or obvious tomentum; prominent midrib and secondary veins. Flowers and fruits: Yellow male and female flowers are borne on different plants. Inflorescences with staminate flowers grow to 15 cm long, branched to one order, with up to 12 branches. Inflorescences with pistillate flowers grow to 10 cm long, branched to one order, with up to 6 branches, turning orange when fruit ripens. The spherical fruits, 6-8 mm in diameter, are black when ripe.
Diagnostic Features
Erect, clustering palm in dense clumps with black fruit and stems with widely-spaced leaf scar rings
May be confused with
Chamaedorea microspadix, but C. seifrizii has denser clumps of stems and black fruit.
Distribution
Native to Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras
Additional Comments
Commonly cultivated in Hawaii, California, and Florida
The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council lists this species as a Category II invasive: exotic plants that show signs of increasing in abundance, but that have not altered native plant communities. Click here for more details.
Scientific Name
Chamaedorea seifrizii Burret
Family
Arecaceae/Palmae
Synonyms
Chamaedorea erumpens H. E. Moore
Chamaedorea seifrizii leaflets
Chamaedorea seifrizii immature fruit. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php
Chamaedorea seifrizii infructescence
Chamaedorea seifrizii stems with fruit
Chamaedorea seifrizii leaves with fruit
Chamaedorea seifrizii apical leaflets. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php
Chamaedorea seifrizii unripe fruits. Photograph courtesy of Mariana P. Beckman, DPI
|
|
|
|
Chamaedorea seifrizii stems with fruit |
Chamaedorea seifrizii leaves with fruit |
Chamaedorea seifrizii leaflets |
|
|
|
|
|
Chamaedorea seifrizii apical leaflets. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php |
Chamaedorea seifrizii immature fruit. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php |
Chamaedorea seifrizii unripe fruits. Photograph courtesy of Mariana P. Beckman, DPI |
Chamaedorea seifrizii infructescence |