37a. Geonoma maxima subsp. maxima

Geonoma multiflora Martius (1823: 7). Lectotype (designated by Wessels Boer 1968): BRAZIL. Pará: without locality, no date, C. Martius s.n. (lectotype M!).

Geonoma paraensis Spruce (1871: 112). Type: BRAZIL. Pará: near Belém, no date, R. Spruce 69 (holotype K!).

Leaves regularly pinnate with 3–5-veined pinnae (except for basal and apical ones), not plicate; rachis 77.9(49.5–120.0) cm long; pinnae 18(4–31) per side of rachis; basal pinna 0.7(0.2–2.5) cm wide, forming an angle of 57(34–80)° with the rachis. Inflorescences rachillae 31(9–50).

Distribution and habitat:— From 5°10’N– 5°58’S and 46°30’– 60°11’W in central and eastern Amazon region of Brazil, Suriname, French Guiana, with outliers in Guyana and Brazil at 288(50–700) m elevation in lowland rainforest (Fig. 25).

A specimen from French Guiana (de Granville 16838) differs from the others in its narrower pinnae. Another specimen from French Guiana (de Granville 13389) has only four pinnae per side of the rachis. Both these specimens approach subsp. ambigua in their leaf morphology. The geographically isolated specimens (Henderson 649, 664, 1055, 1075, 1163, Moore 9534, Prance 2239) from near Manaus in Brazil have longer rachis, more pinnae, and narrower apical pinnae with narrower angles. However, there are too few specimens to test these differences, and it is not clear if the gap between them and other specimens is an artifact caused by incomplete collecting.