Attalea crassispatha

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Attalea crassispatha
Attalea crassispatha.jpg
A group of young trees at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, United States
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Attalea
Species:
A. crassispatha
Binomial name
Attalea crassispatha
Synonyms [2]

Attalea crassispatha is a palm which is endemic to southwest Haiti. The most geographically isolated member of the genus, it is considered a critically endangered species and has been called one of the rarest palms in the Americas.

Contents

Description

Attalea crassispatha has a single stem which grows up to 20 metres (66 ft) tall. The stem is grey, up to 35 centimetres (14 in) in diameter, and can be columnar, or slightly swollen at the base of the middle of the stem. Individuals bear 15 to 19 pinnately compound leaves—leaves in which rows of leaflets emerge on either side of the axis of the leaf in a feather-like or fern-like pattern—with 127 to 165 pairs of leaflets. Leaves consist of a leaf sheath which wraps around the trunk, a rachis, from which the leaflets emerge, and a petiole, which connects the leaf sheath with the rachis. The leaf sheath is open (it does not wrap completely around the stem); when the leaf is shed, the leaf sheath detached cleanly from the stem. The sheath and petiole combined are 1.3 to 1.35 m (4 ft 3 in to 4 ft 5 in) long, while the rachis is 3.2 to 4 m (10 to 13 ft) long. [3]

The inflorescences are born among the leaves. They are either predominantly male, or have a mixture of male and female flowers. The inflorescence consists of a main axis—the peduncle and the rachis—and a series of smaller branches, the rachillae. The rachillae, which bear the flowers, emerge from the rachis. The peduncle is the main stalk, connecting the rachis with the stem. [4] The peduncle, the main stalk of the inflorescence, is no more than 20 cm (7.9 in) long and up to 6 cm (2.4 in) in diameter. The rachis is up to 40 cm (16 in) while the rachillae, which can number in the hundreds, reach a length of about 15 cm (5.9 in). The fruit is reddish when ripe. The seeds, which are about 2 cm (0.79 in) long and 2 cm (0.79 in) in diameter are covered by a 5 millimetres (0.20 in) mesocarp and a 3 mm (0.12 in) endocarp. [3]

Distribution

Very little natural vegetation survives in Haiti. Attalea crassispatha is found in three anthropogenic habitats—field gardens, courtyard gardens, and shrub forest. Field gardens are typically a mixture of annual crops which are farmed for a few years and then converted to pasture. Courtyard gardens are cultivated with perennial crops, usually on more fertile soils. Shrub forests are small patches of secondary forest, often on dry stony areas which are least suitable for agriculture. Joel Timyan and Samuel Reep considered courtyard gardens to have the highest potential for survival and regeneration. At the other extreme, they found only one case of natural regeneration in a field garden. [5]

Taxonomy

Attalea crassispatha is the most isolated disjunct in the genus Attalea . All the other species in the genus are Central or South American species; the only other species found in the insular Caribbean, A. maripa and A. osmantha , are found in Trinidad and Tobago, at the extreme southern end of the Caribbean. Its small population size and extreme isolation from other members of the genus make A. crassispatha scientifically interesting. [3] This isolation was supported by a molecular phylogeny of the group published in 2009. Alan Meerow and colleagues found A. crassispatha to belong to a clade that included the " Scheelea clade" and the two " Orbignya clades", but that it was a sister to both groups. [6]

History

Charles Plumier visited the island of Hispaniola in 1689 and published a description of the species in 1703. Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius used Plumier's notes and drawings to give the species a formal Linnaean description in 1884 placing it in the genus Maximiliana . In 1929 Max Burret transferred the species to Attalea. In 1939 O. F. Cook placed the species in a new genus, Bornoa, named for Louis Borno, former President of Haiti. However, Cook did not validly publish it, making the name invalid. Liberty Hyde Bailey kept the species in the genus Attalea. S. F. Glassman considered it close to the genus Orbignya , but suggested that it may represent a new genus. [3] Recent work has favoured maintaining these taxa in a single genus, Attalea. [7] [8]

Common names

Common names for the species include carossier, carroussier, côrossié, petit coco, kawosie, ti koko, [3] kowos, kokowos, kolowosh and kowos etranjè. [5]

Uses

The seeds of Attalea crassispatha are edible; the flavour is reported to be similar to that of coconut, but it is richer in fats and denser. The nuts are also a good source of cooking oil. The bract is used as a bowl for feeding pigs. The leaves are used for thatch and weaving, but only when the more common fan palms Sabal causiarum and Coccothrinax argentea are unavailable. It is also used as a source of lumber and as a boundary marker between farmers' fields due to its longevity and ability to survive hurricanes. [5]

Conservation

As of 2018, Attalea crassispatha was considered a critically endangered species with an estimated population of fewer than 50 mature individuals. [1] As a result of its small population size, A. crassispatha has been described as being one of the rarest palms in the Americas. [4] Efforts are underway to conserve the species by planting seedlings both in Haiti and elsewhere; in 1991 seeds were distributed to botanic gardens in 12 countries. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Attalea maripa</i> Species of palm

Attalea maripa, commonly called maripa palm is a palm native to tropical South America and Trinidad and Tobago. It grows up 35 m (115 ft) tall and can have leaves or fronds 10–12 m (33–39 ft) long. This plant has a yellow edible fruit which is oblong ovoid and cream. An edible oil can be extracted from the pulp of the fruit and from the kernel of the seed.

<i>Syagrus</i> (plant) Genus of palms

Syagrus is a genus of Arecaceae (palms), native to South America, with one species endemic to the Lesser Antilles. The genus is closely related to the Cocos, or coconut genus, and many Syagrus species produce edible seeds similar to the coconut.

<i>Roystonea</i> Genus of palms

Roystonea is a genus of eleven species of monoecious palms, native to the Caribbean Islands, and the adjacent coasts of the United States (Florida), Central America and northern South America. Commonly known as the royal palms, the genus was named after Roy Stone, a U.S. Army engineer. It contains some of the most recognizable and commonly cultivated palms in tropical and subtropical regions.

<i>Aiphanes minima</i> Species of plant

Aiphanes minima is a spiny palm tree which is native to the insular Caribbean from Hispaniola to Grenada, and widely cultivated elsewhere. Usually 5–8 metres (16–26 ft) tall, it sometimes grows as an understorey tree and only 2 m (6.6 ft) in height.

Bactris campestris is a small spiny palm which grows in multi-stemmed clumps in savannas and low forests in northern South America from Colombia to the Guianas, Trinidad and Tobago, and northern Brazil.

<i>Zombia</i> Genus of palm endemic to Hispaniola

Zombia antillarum, commonly known as the zombie palm, is a species of palm tree and the only member of the genus Zombia. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles. Usually found in dry, hilly areas of northern and southern Haiti and the northwest of the Dominican Republic, Z. antillarum is a relatively short fan palm with clustered stems and a very distinctive appearance caused by its persistent spiny leaf sheaths. Threatened by habitat destruction in Haiti, Z. antillarum is a popular ornamental species due to its distinctive appearance, low maintenance requirements and salt tolerance.

<i>Desmoncus</i> Genus of plants

Desmoncus is a genus of mostly climbing, spiny palms native to the Neotropics. The genus extends from Mexico in the north to Brazil and Bolivia in the south, with two species present in the southeastern Caribbean.

<i>Attalea</i> (plant) Genus of palms

Attalea is a large genus of palms native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. This pinnately leaved, non-spiny genus includes both small palms lacking an aboveground stem and large trees. The genus has a complicated taxonomic history, and has often been split into four or five genera based on differences in the male flowers. Since the genera can only be distinguished on the basis of their male flowers, the existence of intermediate flower types and the existence of hybrids between different genera has been used as an argument for keeping them all in the same genus. This has been supported by recent molecular phylogenies.

<i>Dypsis ambositrae</i> Species of plant in the family Arecaceae

Dypsis ambositrae is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Madagascar where it is threatened by habitat loss.

Aiphanes deltoidea is a species of palm which is native to northeastern South America.

Aiphanes bicornis is a species of small, pinnately leaved palm which is endemic to Ecuador. First described in 2004 and known from only two locations, the species name refers to the deeply notched tips of its leaflets, which resemble a pair of horns.

Aiphanes eggersii, known locally as corozo, is a species of spiney, pinnately leaved palm which is native to the coastal plain of Ecuador and adjacent dry forests of Peru.

<i>Pinanga cattienensis</i> Species of palm

Pinanga cattienensis is a species of small palm in the family Arecaceae. It is endemic to Vietnam, having been found in Cat Tien National Park in Đồng Nai Province, growing in seasonally-flooded tropical forest at low elevations.

<i>Geonoma undata</i> Species of palm

Geonoma undata is a species of medium-sized palm tree native to North and South America. It grows in the understory of tropical forests at high altitudes. This species has highly variable traits depending on its geographic location and several subspecies exist as a result.

<i>Butia campicola</i> Species of palm

Butia campicola is a very small species of Butia palm with an underground trunk; native to the cerrados of central Paraguay and south-central Brazil.

Butia arenicola is a very small species of Butia palm with an underground trunk; native to Paraguay and the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. Boquierinho is recorded as a possible local vernacular name for it.

Butia pubispatha is a very small and extremely rare species of Butia palm with an underground trunk; endemic to the east of the state of Paraná in southeastern Brazil.

Butia catarinensis is a mid-sized species of Butia palm native to the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina in Brazil.

<i>Chamaedorea costaricana</i> Species of palm

Chamaedorea costaricana is a species of palm in the genus Chamaedorea, found in Central America. A common local name in Costa Rica is pacaya, though this is also used as a name for Chamaedorea tepejilote.

<i>Saribus brevifolius</i> Species of palm tree

Saribus brevifolius is a species of palm tree in the genus Saribus, which has only been found in the Kawe and Gag Islands in the archipelago of the Raja Ampat Islands, which lie off the north-west tip of the Bird's Head Peninsula in Indonesia's West Papua province. It was only discovered in 2002 during an expedition funded by The Nature Conservancy. The palm grows along the coasts of these two tropical islands on small ridges composed of ultrabasic rock. It is a moderately-sized fan palm with smallish and regularly segmented leaves and a smallish inflorescence in the crown. The inflorescence is not longer than the leaves, and split at its base into three main branches with one or more sub-inflorescences, these containing red flowers with pink anthers. The ends of S. brevifolius leaf segments are rigid and have a bifurcate cleft 1-4% of the segment length.

References

  1. 1 2 Timyan, J.; Cinea, W. (2018). "Attalea crassispatha". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T38198A2868173. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T38198A2868173.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Attalea crassispatha". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved Oct 21, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Henderson, Andrew; Michael Balick (1991). "Attalea crassispatha, a rare and endemic Haitian palm". Brittonia (JSTOR subscription required). 43 (3): 189–194. doi:10.2307/2807059. JSTOR   2807059. S2CID   12177917.
  4. 1 2 Henderson, Andrew; Gloria Galeano; Rodrigo Bernal (1995). Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 153–164. ISBN   0-691-08537-4.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Timyan, Joel C.; Samuel F. Reep (1994). "Conservation status of Attalea crassispath (Mart.) Burret, the rare and endemic oil palm of Haiti". Biological Conservation. 68: 11–18. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(94)90541-X.
  6. Meerow, Alan W.; Larry Noblick; James W. Borrone; Thomas L. P. Couvreur; Margarita Mauro-Herrera; William J. Hahn; David N. Kuhn; Kyoko Nakamura; Nora H. Oleas; Raymond J. Schnell (2009). Joly, Simon (ed.). "Phylogenetic Analysis of Seven WRKY Genes across the Palm Subtribe Attaleinae (Arecaceae) Identifies Syagrus as Sister Group of the Coconut". PLOS ONE. 4 (10): e7353. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.7353M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007353 . PMC   2752195 . PMID   19806212.
  7. Govaerts, R.; J. Dransfield; S.F. Zona; D.R. Hodel; A. Henderson (2006). "World Checklist of Arecaceae". The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  8. Freitas, Cintia; Meerow, Alan W.; Pintaud, Jean-Christophe; Henderson, Andrew; Noblick, Larry; Costa, Flavia R. C.; Barbosa, Carlos E.; Barrington, David (2016). "Phylogenetic analysis of Attalea (Arecaceae): insights into the historical biogeography of a recently diversified Neotropical plant group". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 182 (2): 287–302. doi: 10.1111/boj.12466 .