A Field Key to the Palms of Belize
by Steven W. Brewer
Section of Evolution and Ecology, One Shields Avenue
University of California, Davis, California 95616
E-mail: swbrewer@ucdavis.edu
Comments, caveats,
and an invitation for suggestions for improvements:
The following key has been modified from the key in Brewer (1999).
The present key is in a nested-hierarchical format and includes a few
changes to the character information, based on recent field experience in
combination with information provided in Hodel (1992) and Henderson et al.
(1995), in order to improve the utility of the key in the field.
Hodel’s (1992) work on Chamaedorea,
which includes many outstanding photographs of species in their natural
environments, is highly recommended as an aid to identification of this
often-difficult genus.
As keys are human constructs, they are not fool-proof tools for field identification. Please send comments on better characters for separating taxa, information regarding new species to Belize, or any other suggestions for improving this key to swbrewer@ucdavis.edu.
Please remember when visiting Belize that permission to collect herbarium specimens, or other material in Belize, is required via a research/collection permit from the Belize Forest Department (Conservation Unit, Belmopan Belize).
Acknowledgements: Greg de Nevers first encouraged me to publish this key. He also patiently read and provided helpful comments on earlier versions. Jody Haynes did the work of turning this into a web page. I thank the Belize Forest Department for permission to conduct research in Belize.
References:
Henderson, A. H., G. Galeano, and R. Bernal. 1995.
Field guide to the palms of the Americas. Princeton University
Press, Princeton, N.J.
Hodel, D. R. 1992. Chamaedorea Palms: The Species and their Cultivation. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas.
Note: This key was modified from Brewer, S.W. 1999. The Palms of Belize: Species Richness and a Key Based on Vegetative Characters. Palms (formerly Principes) 43(3): 109–113. Reprinted with permission.
Potential(*) and Known Species for
Belize
(38 native, 7 potential species; nomenclature based on Henderson
et al. [1995])