Desmoncus As a Useful Palm In

I84 PRINCIPES lVoL. 37 Principes,37(4), r993, pp. I84-186 Desmoncusas a Useful Palm in the Western Amazon Basin ANonnw HsnnnRsoNAND FLoR CsAvnz Neu York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 1O458 Unlike the rattans of the Old World, there are few reports in the literature (Ba- the New World has few climbing palms. lick and Beck 1990). The most detailed Most species of Desmoncus are climbers, account is by Schultes ( I 940), who reported and also one species of Chamaedorea. on basket making wilh Desmoncus by Many names have been proposed in Des- Chinantec Indians in Mexico. Schultes also moncus but only about 7 species exist, reviewed the scant literature. Since then most of them occurring in the Amazon there have been a few additional reports region. However, the total range of the (e.g., Gentry I986). Centry ( l9B8) genus is from southern Mexico through reported on the usefulnessof r. cirrhifera Central America and northern South in the Choc6 region of Colombia, where America as far south as Paraguay. The the stems are used to make nets and shrimp genus also occurs in Trinidad and just traps. Gentry and Blaney (1990) briefly reaches the Lesser Antilles. mentioned a cottage industry using Des- Desmoncus is poorly known but very moncus stems in Iquitos, Peru. Here we interesting, both morphologically and eco- report further on this small industry. logically. Different species can be either \ear Tquitos at leasl two species are spiny or non-spiny and have climbing or used. We first encountered one of these, non-climbing stems with distichously or still undescribed, in western Brazil, on the spirally arranged leaves. The rachis can upper Rio Juru5 in Acre. It is a massive be developed or not developed into a cirrus, palm (Fig. l), reaching over 20 m into the and the pinnae can have filiform or acute canopy. One of its most distinctive features apices. The spicate or branched inflores- is the fibrous and spiny ocrea. Another cences can be either solitary or multiple interesting feature is the apparently soli- at each node. Ecologically the genus is tary stem. It is locally common in the interesting because of its unusual repro- western Amazon region in Ecuador, Peru, ductive behavior. Unlike other New World and western Brazil, but is most often seen palms, several nodes will flower and fruit as free-standing juveniles in the forest simultaneously. The species prefer light understory. Adult plants reach 20 m or gaps and other open areas in the forest, more into the canopy and are difficult to but habitat can range from forest to river see and even more difficult to collect. margins, disturbed areas or savannas, to A second. and more common species. flooded areas near the sea. Desmoncus polyacanthos, alsooccurs near "vara Most interesting is the climbing habit Iquitos. Here both speciesare called itself, and adaptations associated with this casha." Stems are collected by country habit are responsible for the ethnobotanical people, on demand from the manufacturer importance of the genus. Although the in the city. The plant is cut at ground level stems of Desnzoncus are flexible, they have and the sheathing leaf bases are stripped great tensile strength. The genus is appar- away. The stem is then rolled up (Fig. 2) ently widely used for weaving material, but and taken to the city. Stems are used either L9931 HENDERSONAND CHAVEZ:DESMONCUS I. Desmoncus in the western Amazon basin in Brazil. 2. The stem stripped of its leaf basesand coiled up. 3. Detail of woYen stems. 4. Piano stool seats made from woven stems. I86 PRINCIPES [VoL.37 in private houses,where cottage industries able resource of the kind used in extractive manufacture furniture or baskets, or in reserves in the western Amazon basin' small factories or workshopswhere arti- sansmake furniture. Acknowledgments Processingis a skillful task, that needs to be completedby two days after collec- We thank Hernan GonzalesPolar and tion. First the stemsare cut into 6 m long Karen Morote Diaz of Fibro-Maderas, sections.Then the stem is cut lengthways Empresade Promoci6nArtesanal, Iquitos, in half and the soft central pith is removed. for their"help. The Guevara Fasabifamily, Then the halves are further cut into two alsoof Iquitos,provided much information. or four strips, dependingon the thickness The manuscriptwas improved by Dr. Alwyn of the stem. The strips are refined by draw- Gentry. Fieldworkin Brazil and Peru was ing them over a sharp blade. The final supported by the World Wildlife Fund- strips are about 2 mm thick. For I kg of U.S. preparedstrips, I0 kg of raw stems are needed. The strips are extremely strong and impossibleto break by pulling; how- Lrrnnerunn Crrro ever, they are relatively easily broken by Be,rrcr, M. ANDH. BEcK. 1991. Useful palmsof bendine. the world. Columbia University Press. TheLost common use in Iquitos for the Genrnv, A. 1986. Sumario de patrones fitogeo- Desm.oncusstrips is for weaving(Fig. 3), gr6ficos neotropicalesy sus implicaciones para using a wooden frame, into chair backs el desarrollo de la Amazonia. Rev. Acad. Col- and seats, headboardsof beds, cabinet omb. Ci. Exact. I6: I01-116. 1988. New speciesand a new combina- doors,and especiallypiano stools(Fig. ). tion for plants from trans-Andean South Amer- Theseitems are sold locally, but demand ica. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard. 75: 1429-1439. is generally low. There is, however, a AND C. BLANEY. 1990. Alternativesto demand from tourists for these attractive destruction: using the biodiversity of tropical forests.Western Wildlands 16: 2-7. woven articles. ScHULTES,R. 1940. Plantae MexicanaeV. Des- We believe these palms and their uses rnoncuschinantlensis and its utilization in native are worthy of consideration as a sustain- basketry.Bot. Mus. Leafl. 8(?): 134 140. MAKE YOUR PLANS TO ATTEND THE INTERNATIONAL PALM SOCIETY BIENNIAL MEETING IN CARACAS, VENEZUELA frOM JUNE 12.16, 1994. Also plan to attend some of the pre-Biennialweekend tours on June II-12 and post-Biennial palm expeditions beginning on June ITth (for from 3 to l0 days, dependingupon your selectionof itinerary modules).Possible post-Biennial excursion modulesinclude expeditionsto the palms of high-altitude cloud forests,lowland river delta jungle habitats, upper llanos and others. 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