40. Geonoma multisecta (Burret) Burret (1940a: 24). Taenianthera multisecta Burret (1930c: 13). Type:

COLOMBIA. Caquetá: Sucre, 10 July 1926, G. Woronow & J. Juzepczuk 5862 (holotype LE!).

Geonoma polyandra Skov (1994: 39). Type: ECUADOR. Napo: Añangu, 0°32’N, 76°23’W, 300 m, 19 June 1985, H.

Balslev, A. Barfod, & F. Skov 60536 (holotype AAU!, isotypes COL n.v., K!, NY!, QCA n.v.), s ynon. nov.

Plants 2.7(1.5–3.5) m tall; stems 0.8(0.2–2.3) m tall, in diameter no data, solitary; internodes length no data, not scaly. Leaves 11(9–16) per stem, irregularly pinnate, not plicate, bases of blades running diagonally into the rachis; sheaths 22.0(11.0–38.0) cm long; petioles 41.2(13.0–77.0) cm long, drying green or yellowish; rachis 74.6(55.5–94.0) cm long, 4.3(2.9–8.0) mm in diameter; veins raised and rectangular in cross-section adaxially; pinnae13(3–18) per side of rachis; basal pinna 29.0(21.0–54.0) cm long, 2.5(0.2–18.5) cm wide, forming an angle of 56(20–74)° with the rachis; apical pinna 20.6(15.5–29.5) cm long, 5.7(2.0–17.0) cm wide, forming an angle of 32(22–42)° with the rachis. Inflorescences unbranched; prophylls and peduncular bracts ribbed with elongate, unbranched fibers, both bracts tubular, narrow, elongate, closely sheathing the peduncle, more or less persistent; prophylls 29.1(19.2–40.0) cm long, not short and asymmetrically apiculate, the surfaces not ridged, without unequally wide ridges; peduncular bracts 29.3(25.0–39.5) cm long, well- developed, inserted 0.8(0.2–2.5) cm above the prophyll; peduncles 60.8(31.0–99.5) cm long, 3.7(2.3–5.1) mm in diameter; rachillae 1, 23.5(14.0–36.5) cm long, 7.4(5.4–9.4) mm in diameter, the surfaces without spiky, fibrous projections or ridges, drying brown or yellow-brown, without short, transverse ridges, not filiform and not narrowed between the flower pits; flower pits spirally arranged, glabrous internally; proximal lips with a central notch before anthesis, often the two sides of the notch overlapping, not recurved after anthesis, not hood-shaped; proximal and distal lips drying the same color as the rachillae, not joined to form a raised cupule, the proximal lip margins overlapping the distal lip margins; distal lips well-developed; staminate and pistillate petals not emergent, not valvate throughout; staminate flowers deciduous after anthesis; stamens more than 6; thecae diverging or not diverging at anthesis, inserted onto poorly to well-developed, non-split, jointed connectives, connectives when well-developed alternately long and short; anthers short at anthesis, remaining straight and parallel; non-fertilized pistillate flowers deciduous after anthesis; staminodial tubes lobed at the apex, the lobes spreading at anthesis, acuminate, those of non-fertilized pistillate flowers not projecting and persistent after anthesis; fruits 11.2(9.6–13.2) mm long, 7.4(6.2–7.9) mm in diameter, the bases without a prominent stipe, the apices not conical, the surfaces not splitting at maturity, without fibers emerging, not bumpy, not apiculate; locular epidermis with operculum, smooth, without pores.

Distribution and habitat:— From 1°47’N– 2°17’S and 74°53’– 77°45’W in the western Amazon region of Colombia and Ecuador at 338(200–1150) m elevation in lowland or) montane rainforest (Fig. 28).

Taxonomic notes:— Skov (1994), in describing Geonoma polyandra, overlooked the earlier name of G. multisecta. This was understandable given that the type specimen of G. multisecta lacked staminate flowers. However, this specimen, with its veins raised and rectangular in cross-section adaxially and leaf and inflorescence morphology certainly represents the earliest name for this species. Geonoma multisecta is a member of a group of related species including G. macrostachys, G. paradoxa, G. poiteauana, and G. schizocarpa, and is the only one of which to have more than six stamens.

Subspecific variation:— No trait varies within this species, nor is there any geographic disjunction.