Eremospatha is a genus of climbing flowering plants in the palm family found in tropical Africa.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families These rattans are uncommon in cultivation and poorly understood by taxonomists. Closely related to Laccosperma, they are differentiated by the near complete absence of bracts and bracteoles.Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. / The name is from Greek meaning 'without a spathe'.
Description The slender, high-climbing trunks are naturally clustering and can reach up to in length. The pinnate leaves range from to on short, armed petioles; the rachis, leaf margins and cirri are also armed with spines. They are hermaphroditic, with both male and female reproductive organs present in each flower. The pale blooms are fragrant and produce a red to brown, scaly fruit, each containing one to three seeds.Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. /
Distribution and habitat These palms are native to the rain forest of west Africa, the Congo Basin, and to Tanzania where they grow in swamps and alongside rivers.
Species Accepted species:Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Eremospatha barendii Sunderl. - Cameroon Eremospatha cabrae (De Wild. & T.Durand) De Wild. - Zaire, Congo-Brazzaville, Cabinda, Gabon, Central African Republic Eremospatha cuspidata (G.Mann & H.Wendl.) H.Wendl. - Zaire, Congo-Brazzaville, Cabinda, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Central African Republic, Angola, Zambia Eremospatha dransfieldii Sunderl. - Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana Eremospatha haullevilleana De Wild. - Cameroon, Zaire, Congo-Brazzaville, Cabinda, Gabon, Central African Republic, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania Eremospatha hookeri (G.Mann & H.Wendl.) H.Wendl. - Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea Eremospatha laurentii De Wild. - Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Cameroon, Zaire, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea Eremospatha macrocarpa Schaedtler - Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone Eremospatha quinquecostulata Becc. - Nigeria, Cameroon Eremospatha tessmanniana Becc. - Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea Eremospatha wendlandiana Dammer ex Becc. - Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cabinda
References
External links Eremospatha on NPGS/GRIN GBIF Portal Fairchild Guide to Palms: Eremospatha