Ceroxylon alpinum

Ceroxylon alpinum
Bonpl. ex D.C.


Morphology:
Canopy palm. Stem solitary, to 20 m tall, 15-30 cm in diameter, white with black leaf scars, or more rarely grey to brown. Leaves to 5 m long; pinnae ca. 100 on each side, regularly inserted in one plane, often somewhat pendulous, green and glabrous above, below silverish white and with a thin wax layer, the central pinnae 70-90 cm long and 3-4 cm wide. Inflorescences arching to pendulous, to 3 m long, branched 3 times. Fruits globose, 1-2 cm in diameter, slightly rough, red at maturity.



Distribution:
Venezuela to Ecuador along the Andes.

Notes:
Two subspecies are recognised.
The subspecies that occurs in Ecuador, subsp. ecuadorense Galeano, is endemic to that country.