Eremospatha
General description:
The genus Eremospatha is composed of 11 species. It consists of pleonanthic, hermaphroditic, spiny palms; most often with high-climbing, solitary or clustered stems, entire-bifid leaves when juvenile and regularly or irregularly pinnate leaves at maturity, the latter with a cirrus emerging from the rachis apex. The combination of leaf sheaths without spines and stem sometimes presenting a conspicuous knee below leaf junction is quite characteristic for this genus.
Distribution:
Well distributed in several countries of West Africa and the Congo basin, with outliers in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia (Sunderland, 2012).
Habitat:
Eremospatha is a shade tolerant rattan palm well represented in the lowland forest, often below 1000 m.