Syagrus orinocensis

Syagrus orinocensis was placed in synonomy with Syagrus stenopetala in 1969, until now (Nobilick 2013). Syagrus stenopetala resembles S. orinocensis in the pinnae being arranged in loose clusters of 2-3 and 2.0-2.4 cm wide. The two species differ by the following: S. stenopetala is clustering with stem hardly thickened at the base, S. orinocensis is solitary and prominently thickened at the base; 13-17 leaves in the crown opposed to 10-12 leaves in S. orinocensis; Longer peduncular bract, longer and larger number of rachillae; S. stenopetala flowers mostly in the autumn and winter and fruits in the spring, while S. orinocensis fruits mostly in the autumn and winter and fruits and flowers more in the spring and summer. They also grow in very different habitats, with S. stenopetala growing near the northern, dry coastal mountains of Venezuela in semi-deciduous forests on dry spiny savannahs, while S. orinocensis grows in the southern, wet, Orinoco River, growing on rocky granitic outcrops.