Dr. Larry Noblick, MBC Palm Biologist, just returned from a month-long botanical expedition in French Guiana, returning with many important preserved specimens and seeds for living conservation collections.

Larry’s focus on this project was the acaulescent (stemless) Attalea palms, many of which occur in Northern South America. This group of palms has not been thoroughly examined – Larry reports that these palms do not often flower in the deep shade of the forest understory (please see the example in the upper photo). Larry also obtained collections of Syagrus inajai, an important addition to MBC’s Syagrus collection.

Below, Larry is pictured with Jean-Jacques de Granville and Sophie Gonzalez reviewing specimens in the Herbier de Guyane (CAY).

This project was generously funded by Lillian Fessenden and the Paul Drummond Fund for Palm Conservation.