Desmoncus is best known as a genus of climbing palms. Twenty-three of the 24 species recognised by Andrew Henderson in his revision of the genus are climbers; only one, D. stans is free-standing.[3]: 7–16 Almost all Neotropical climbing palms belong to Desmoncus—the one exception being Chamaedorea elatior.[3]: 3
Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius's drawing of Desmoncus polyacanthos shows the features of the leaf (sheath, petiole, rachis, leaflets, and cirrus) and the inflorescence with its associated bract.Most Desmoncus species climb using grappling hook-like structures called acanthophylls.
Desmoncus leaves are pinnately compound and are made up of a leaf sheath, petioles, rachis, and individual leaflets. The ends of the leaves are modified into a climbing structure called a cirrus. Instead of leaflets, the cirrus usually has grappling hook-like structures called acanthophylls; in some species the cirrus is less well developed and is almost absent in D. stans, the non-climbing species.[3]: 8–10
All parts of the leaves, including the leaflets themselves, are covered with spines. Most species have straight spines that are over 1 centimetre (0.4 in) long, but a few species have curved spines that are less than 1 cm long.[3]: 8–10
Max Burret published a revision of the entire genus in 1934. Burret described nine new species and ended up recognising a total of 41 species. In the 1940s, Liberty Hyde Bailey added 14 additional species to the genus Desmoncus. Jan Wessels Boer rejected the species concept used by Bailey, Barbosa Rodrigues, and Burret as being too narrow and ended up recognising only seven species[3]: 3–4 In his 2011 revision of the genus, Andrew Henderson recognised 24 species.[3]
Distribution
Desmoncus ranges from Mexico in the north to Bolivia and Brazil in the south. Most species occur at lower elevations, but some species range as high as 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level. The species are mostly found in lowland tropical rainforest. Twelve species occur in Colombia, the most species-rich country, while 10 are found in Brazil.[3]: 7
^Eiserhardt, Wolf L.; Jean-Christophe Pintaud; Conny Asmussen-Lange; William J. Hahn; Rodrigo Bernal; Henrik Balslev; Finn Borchsenius (2011). "Phylogeny and divergence times of Bactridinae (Arecaceae, Palmae) based on plastid and nuclear DNA sequences". Taxon. 60 (2): 485–498. doi:10.1002/tax.602016.
^Dransfield, John; Natalie W. Uhl; Conny B. Asmussen; William J. Baker; Madeline M. Harley; Carl E. Lewis (2005). "A new phylogenetic classification of the palm family, Arecaceae". Kew Bulletin. 60 (4). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: 559–69. JSTOR25070242.
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