13. Geonomadeversa(Poiteau) Kunth, Enum. PI., 3: 231. 1841. 



Trunk 1-2 m tall, 1.25 cm in diameter, prominently ringed; internodes I -2.5 

 cm long. Leaves ca 8 per stem; sheath 6-7 cm long and fibrous marginally; 

 petiole 7 10 cm long; rachis 30 cm long; blade divided into 3 or more opposite 

 pairs of segments, dark green above, light green below, each ca 25 cm long and 

 of variable width. Inflorescence in bud bearing two light brown, scale-covered 

 bracts; panicle 20-30 cm long with 5-8 rachillae. green in flower turning red 

 upon fruiting; flowers borne in triads of two staminate and one pistillate and 

 set in pits. Fruits round, 4-5 mm in diameter, turning from green to black 



when ripe. 



Distribution: Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica. 

 Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, Ecuador, 

 Peru, Bolivia, Brazil. 



In his revision of the geonomoid palms, Wessels Boer (1968) 

 considered G. deversa to be the species of widest range, able to 

 withstand many diverse ecological conditions. This species var- 

 ies greatly in height and general vigor, depending on the availa- 

 bility of water and richness of the soil. 



Common Name: "Vavara" (Guahibo) 



Uses: Children make training bows from the stems. The plia- 

 ble but strong stem also serves as a frame for fishing nets. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



Gratitude is offered to Dr. Paulo Lugari C, Director of the 

 "Las Gaviotas" development program, for his support of this 

 project. Professor Richard E. Schultes originally suggested this 

 study during a larger, more focused investigation on the 

 Oenocarpus-Jessenia complex of palms in the Amazon Valley. 

 Invaluable field assistance and ethnobotanical information was 

 freely offered by Sr. Eutimio Vargas at "Las Gaviotas." The late 

 Professor Harold E. Moore, Jr. contributed much to this 

 manuscript and my education overall, through many long hours 

 of revision and discussion of this particular work. Dr. Rupert C. 

 Barneby offered many excellent comments on the final version. I 

 thank the heads of the various agencies in Colombia who offered 

 logistical and intellectual support of this project. Funding for 

 the field exploration involved in this work was provided by 

 Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society of North America, 



16 



