Palmeria gracilis Perkins

Woody liana, reaching 20 m, young parts covered with a lax indumentum of simple hairs, together with small stellate hairs especially on the flowers. Leaves usually ovate with broad rounded, cordate, or cuneate base, and a long narrow apiculum, more rarely elliptic with a short apiculum, 4-14.5 by 1.8-11.5 cm, membranaceous, midrib and lateral veins well-defined, upper surface with the remnants of simple hairs and small stellate hairs, or becoming glabrous except for simple hairs along the midrib and sometimes the principal veins and the margin, undersurface with a dense or sparser covering of curved simple hairs mixed with a varying number of small stellate hairs; petiole 2.5-10 mm, hairy. Inflorescence axillary and terminal, either simple pleio-chasia, few-flowered and with a delicate rachis, or branching to the second degree with rather stouter rachis, 5-20 cm long, often produced profusely on lateral branches of limited growth; rachis, branches and pedicels with lax hairs and a varying amount of short dense stellate hairs; bracts linear, caducous. Male receptacle saucer-shaped, 6-8 mm Ø, with 5 re-curved deltoid tepals, outer surface with long simple hairs and dense stellate indumentum; stamens c. 20-24, sessile, c. 1.25 mm long. Female receptacle globose, c. 2.25 mm Ø, outer surface with indumentum as in male, inner surface with long bristles be-tween the carpels; carpels c. 8-10, tapering to a long filiform reflexed style. Immature fruit subspherical with an asymmetric beak; mature fruit splitting into irregular lobes c. 2-2.5 cm long, densely bristly on both surfaces; drupes spherical, sessile, c. 7 mm long when dry.

Woody liana reaching 20 m or more, in rain-forest, second growth or open scrubby areas with a wide altitudinal range (500-3000 m), but most frequent in lower montane rain-forest (Castanopsis, Lithocarpus, Nothofagus, Podocarpus or Elaeocar-pus dominated).

Uses. For wrapping tobacco before being smoked in pipes or as cigarettes. When burnt to a fine ash, used as salt.