Chelyocarpus is a genus of small to medium-sized fan palm

Fan palm

Fan palm as a descriptive term can refer to any of several different kinds of palms in various genera with leaves that are palmately compound...

s which are native to northwestern South America. Some are upright trees, while others creep along the ground. Species are used for thatch, to weave hats, stuff pillows and as a source of salt.

Description

Chelyocarpus is a type of small to medium sized, single or multi-stemmed palms with fan shaped leaves. Stems range from short and creeping along the ground to as much as 15 metres (49 ft) tall. Stem diameters range from 4 to 12 centimetres (1.6 to 4.7 in). Individuals have between 10 and 20 leaves with circular blades, the lower surface of which is usually whitish in colour. The flowers are small and bisexual—they have both male and female sex organs in the same flower. The fruit have one or two seeds and ripen to a greenish yellow or brown.

Taxonomy

The name Chelyocarpus is derived from Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 and means "turtle carapace

Carapace

A carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...

-fruited", a reference to cracked surface of the fruits of the genus, which resemble the shell of a turtle. The species was first described by German botanist Carl Dammer

Carl Lebrecht Udo Dammer

Carl Lebrecht Udo Dammer was a German botanist.- Work :* Handbuch für Pflanzensammler . Stuttgart 1891.* Anleitung für Pflanzensammler . Stuttgart 1894....

 in 1920. In the first edition of Genera Palmarum (1987), Natalie Uhl and John Dransfield

John Dransfield

John Dransfield is an honorary research fellow and former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom, as well as being an authority on the phylogenetic classification of palms....

 placed the genus Chelyocarpus in the subfamily Coryphoideae

Coryphoideae

Coryphoideae is a subfamily of the palm tree family, Arecaceae....

, the tribe

Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

 Corypheae

Corypheae

Corypheae is a tribe of palm trees in the subfamily Coryphoideae. The extinct palm Palaeoraphe is placed into the subtribe Livistoninae....

 and the subtribe Thrinacinae Subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that the Old World

Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....

 and New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

 members of the Thrinacinae are not closely related. As a consequence of this, Chelyocarpus and related genera have been placed in their own tribe, Cryosophileae

Cryosophileae

Cryosophileae is a tribe of palms in the subfamily Coryphoideae. The tribe ranges from southern South America, through Central America, into Mexico and the Caribbean...

. Chelyocarpus is considered to form the sister clade to the rest of the tribe.

Distribution

Three species of Chelyocarpus are native to the western Amazon

Amazon Basin

The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...

, while the fourth is from western Colombia. Chelyocarpus chuco is found in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, C. ulei

Chelyocarpus ulei

Chelyocarpus ulei is a species of palm tree that is native to the western Amazon.-Description:Chelyocarpus ulei is a single-stemmed palm with fan-shaped leaves. The stem is tall and in diameter.-Taxonomy:...

in Colombia, Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 and Brazil, C. repens near Iquitos

Iquitos

Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, with a population of 370,962. It is the capital of Loreto Region and Maynas Province.Located on the Amazon River, it is only above sea level, although it is more than from the mouth of the Amazon at Belém on the Atlantic Ocean...

, Peru, and C. dianeurus is found in the Pacific lowlands of Colombia.

Uses

The leaves of Chelyocarpus chuco are used for thatch and to weave hats. The woolly covering of the leaf sheaths of C. dianeurus are used to stuff pillows, and salt is extracted from the trunks of C. ulei.