The organogenesis of staminate flower clusters and flowers and some observations on the corresponding pistillate structures of Aphandra natalia are described and compared with those of the other two genera in the Phytelephantoideae (Arecaceae). In Aphandra, staminate flowers are borne in monopodial clusters of mostly four (1‐6) flowers. Each flower is surrounded by two pairs of subopposite bracteoles and has two rather indistinctly four-parted whorls of perianth parts. Stamen primordia arise on a shallow apical dome and then centrifugally down the sides of a long, angled, and laterally flattened receptacle. Immediately before the staminate bud opens, the floral receptacle below the androecium rapidly elongates, becoming funnel-shaped, with the bracteoles and a perianth sheath adnate to it forming a pseudopedicel. Epidermal and subepidermal layers of these pseudopedicels split at anthesis and release a great number of raphide idioblasts that resemble the pollen grains in shape and size. It is hypothesized that the idioblasts deter pollen feeding or ovidepositing insects. The phylogenetic implications of these findings are important within the Phytelephantoideae and among palms in general. Aphandra natalia (Balslev and Henderson) Barfod is a pinnate leaved, single-stemmed palm found in Amazonian Ecuador and Peru near the foothills of the Andes. The genus belongs to the subfamily Phytelephantoideae, which includes only three small genera and constitutes a morphologically isolated group of dioecious genera within the Palmae (Uhl and Dransfield, 1987). Developmental studies have shown that the phytelephantoid genera have the only monopodial flower clusters in the family, a four-parted perianth otherwise known only in only one species of Chelyocarpus (Coryphoideae), and centrifugal stamen inception. Partial centrifugal stamen development is known to occur elsewhere only in the genus Eugeissona (Calamoideae) (Uhl and Moore, 1977; Uhl and Dransfield, 1984). Balslev and Henderson (1987) originally referred Aphandra natalia to Ammandra based on the prominent submarginal veins on the pinnae and the pedicellate condition of the staminate flower clusters. Monographic work on the subfamily Phytelephantoideae has shown that it is a distinct genus (Barfod, Henderson, and Balslev, 1987; Barfod, 1991) (Table 1) and that the structure of the floral pedicel is critical. Developmental studies of the inflorescence and flowers of Aphandra are important for eludication of the pedicel and for comparison with developmental patterns previously described for the other genera of Phytelephantoideae (Uhl and Moore, 1977; Uhl and Dransfield, 1984). In this study we address three issues in particular: ontogeny of the staminate flower cluster, stamen inception, and the structure of the pedicel of the staminate flower. Some observations are also presented on the development of the pistillate flower clusters and flowers.