

A single-stemmed palm, up to 15 m tall, sometimes with adventitious roots at the base of the trunk. Basselinia glabrata has a very thin trunk (6 inches in diameter) and a very long, graceful dark green-yellow crownshaft, directly beneath which all the flowers emerge in various stages of development. It is one of the few palms to produce "stacked" inflorescences—a mature palm produces enormous (for a palm) flowers in about 4 to 5 columns around the trunk. 8 to 10 broad, arching leaves per crown, 1.3 to 2 m long, regularly pinnate, petioles covered with dark scales. Grows in rainforest on slopes or sometimes in riparian zones, the soils are often rocky.
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