BRANCHING IN SYAGRUS COCOIDES (ARECACEAE) IN MARANHAO, NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

This paper reports the discovery of an unusual population of Syagrus c ocoides Martius located in the municipality of Barra do Corda, state o f Maranhao, northeastern Brazil. The most interesting characteristic o f this population is the high number of individuals with branched stem s. Sampling showed that 16.12% of the population consisted of bifurcat e adult individuals and 14.17% were bifurcate seedlings. The branching phenomenon in palms is reviewed, and competing hypotheses are discuss ed to explain the branching in Syagrus cocoides and its ecological and evolutionary significance. We conclude that the most likely type of b ranching is by dichotomy.