THREE NEW GENERA OF STILT PALMS (IRIARTEACKAE) 
FROM COLOMBIA, WITH A SYNOPTICAL REVIEW 
OF THE FAMILY. 
By O. F. Cook Aanp C. B. DoYLe. 
FAMILY CHARACTERS. 
The palms of the strictly American family Iriarteaceae are readily 
distinguished in nature by the fact that the trunk does not reach the 
ground but is supported by a cluster of large, stilt-like, aerial roots. 
In the smooth trunk and the long sheathing bases of the leaves the 
stilt palms have a superficial resemblance to the royal palms (Acris- 
taceae), but the floral and foliar characters show altogether different 
lines of specialization. 
The leaves of the Iriarteaceae differ from those of any other pin- 
nate palms in the strong development and radial position of the 
veins. Even when the segments are narrow and parallel so that the 
clusters closely resemble the pinne of other palms, there is no 
specialization of a definite midvein larger than the others. This lack 
of specialization may be considered an explanation of the peculiar 
irregular or premorse margin of the leaves, a feature that is par- 
alleled, among American palms, only in certain genera of Co- 
caceae, such as Tilmia and Curima. 
SURVEY OF THE GENERA. 
The classification of Triartea and the related genera has received 
very diverse treatment at the hands of Martius, Karsten, Wendland, 
and Drude. The very incomplete original description of I[riartea 
by Ruiz and Pavon was supplemented by Martius from his knowledge 
of the Brazilian species. Karsten in establishing two new Colom- 
bian genera, Deckeria' and Socratea,? accepted the characters as- 
cribed to Iriartea by Martius and thus invited criticism by Wendland 
for not considering the true type of the genus, the Peruvian /. 
deltoidea. 
* Linnaea 28: 258. 1856. . ? Op. cit. 28: 263. 1856. 
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