''Wettinia'' is a

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (b ...

genus, consisting of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the family Arecaceae. The genus, established in 1837, contains some 20

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

, but more seem to await discovery considering that 4 species - '' W. aequatorialis'', '' W. lanata'', '' W. minima'' and '' W. panamensis'' - were described as late as 1995. The genus is broadly divided into two groups. One group has the fruits tightly packed, while the other, formerly classified as genus ''Catoblastus'', has fruits scattered along the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

branches. It is not known whether these groups are both

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...

. The genus is named after

Frederick Augustus II of Saxony , image = Friedrich August II of Saxony.jpg , caption = Portrait by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein , image_size = 220px , reign = 6 June 1836 – 9 August 1854 , coronation = , predecessor = Anthony , ...

, of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of Germany, German monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of ...

Morphology

Palms of the genus ''Wettinia'' are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy i ...

, medium-sized to large, and typically solitary-trunked. They have a low, dense cone of brown or black

stilt root Buttress roots also known as plank roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over (hence t ...

s, and

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, an ...

leaves. The rope-like inflorescences of the plant emerge from leathery

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or o ...

s, and grow in a circular pattern around one or more trunk rings beneath the crown shaft. They are unisexual, fleshy, and cream colored or white. The fruit is small to medium-sized and elongated, green to bluish black in color. It grows either dispersed along the branches or in a tightly packed ellipsoid or sausage-like cylinder.

Distribution

Members of this genus are found in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and in northern and northwestern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

(Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Brazil).Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Although none of the species are frost-tolerant, they are found primarily in cooler and higher-altitude locations, up to 2,200 m in the case of ''

Wettinia kalbreyeri ''Wettinia kalbreyeri'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. The plant is named after the Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history ...

'', and are particularly prevalent along the foothills of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

SpeciesGovaerts ''et al.'' (2008)

''Wettinia s. str.'' group: * '' Wettinia aequatorialis'' R.Bernal - Ecuador * '' Wettinia augusta'' Poepp. & Endl. - Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Brazil * '' Wettinia castanea'' H.E.Moore & J.Dransf. - Colombia * ''

Wettinia fascicularis ''Wettinia fascicularis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found in Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near ...

'' (Burret) H.E.Moore & J.Dransf. - Colombia, Ecuador * '' Wettinia hirsuta'' Burret - Colombia * '' Wettinia lanata'' R.Bernal - Colombia * ''

Wettinia longipetala ''Wettinia longipetala'' is a species of tree in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Peru, and is considered a vulnerable species by the IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for C ...

'' A.H.Gentry - Pasco region of Peru * ''

Wettinia minima ''Wettinia minima'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae found only in Ecuador. Its natural habitat being subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, it is threatened by habitat loss. References minima In mat ...

'' R.Bernal - Ecuador * '' Wettinia oxycarpa'' Galeano-Garcés & R.Bernal - Colombia, Ecuador * '' Wettinia panamensis'' R.Bernal - Panama * '' Wettinia quinaria'' (O.F.Cook & Doyle) Burret - Colombia, Ecuador * '' Wettinia verruculosa'' H.E.Moore - Colombia, Ecuador ''Catoblastus'' group: * '' Wettinia aequalis'' (O.F.Cook & Doyle) R.Bernal - Colombia, Ecuador, Panama * ''

Wettinia anomala ''Wettinia anomala'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. References anomala ''Anomala'' is a genus of shining leaf chafers in the family of beetles known as Scarabaeidae. The ...

'' (Burret) R.Bernal - Colombia, Ecuador * ''

Wettinia disticha ''Wettinia disticha'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—nea ...

'' (R.Bernal) R.Bernal - Colombia * ''

Wettinia drudei ''Wettinia drudei'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_ ...

'' (O.F.Cook & Doyle) A.J.Hend. - Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, northwestern Brazil * ''

'' (Burret) R.Bernal - Colombia, Ecuador * ''

Wettinia maynensis ''Wettinia'' is a palm genus, consisting of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. The genus, established in 1837, contains some 20 species, but more seem to await discovery considering that 4 species - '' W. aequatorialis'', '' W. lanata'', ...

'' Spruce - Peru, Colombia, Ecuador * ''

Wettinia microcarpa ''Wettinia'' is a palm genus, consisting of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. The genus, established in 1837, contains some 20 species, but more seem to await discovery considering that 4 species - '' W. aequatorialis'', '' W. lanata'', ' ...

'' (Burret) R.Bernal - Norte de Santander region of Colombia * ''

Wettinia praemorsa ''Wettinia'' is a palm genus, consisting of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. The genus, established in 1837, contains some 20 species, but more seem to await discovery considering that 4 species - '' W. aequatorialis'', '' W. lanata'', ...

'' (Willd.) Wess.Boer - Colombia, Venezuela * ''

Wettinia radiata ''Wettinia'' is a palm genus, consisting of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. The genus, established in 1837, contains some 20 species, but more seem to await discovery considering that 4 species - '' W. aequatorialis'', '' W. lanata'', ' ...

'' (O.F.Cook & Doyle) R.Bernal - Colombia, Panama

Footnotes

References

* (2003): ''An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms''. Timber Press
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* (2008)
''Wettinia''
''In:'' World Checklist of Arecaceae. Retrieved 2008-APR-01. * (1995): ''Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas''. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. HTML preview
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q141128 Arecaceae genera Neotropical realm flora Taxa named by Eduard Friedrich Poeppig Taxonomy articles created by Polbot