In 2006, Morici described a new palm species native to southeast Cuba, Coccothrinax torrida, together with the Cuban botanist Raúl Verdecia.
Morici also works as a landscape designer. Some of his best known projects are the Parque Central de Arona and the Palmetum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He was involved with the Palmetum as a botanist during its early years (1996–1999). He later designed new sections of the Palmetum, such as the areas dedicated to the flora of New Caledonia, Hawaii and North America, and the gardens on its southern, sea-facing, slopes.
Selected publications
Palmeras e Islas, in Spanish, on the biogeography of island palms .
La Palmera Canaria: Phoenix canariensis, in Spanish, published in the Canarian magazine Rincones del Atlántico, on the species in habitat .
Article on Coccothrinax boschiana in the journal Palms, in English .
Description of a new palm species in Brittonia, the journal of the New York Botanical Garden: Coccothrinax torrida.
File with pictures of Coccothrinax torrida, in PACSOA (Palms and Cycad Society of Australia) website. .
Pinus canariensis, the Canary Island pine, is a species of gymnosperm in the conifer family Pinaceae. It is a large, evergreen tree, native and endemic to the outer Canary Islands of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden is a frost-free arboretum and botanical garden containing a collection of trees, shrubs, and palms, including several "champion tree" specimens. It is located on Stock Island in the municipality of Key West, Florida, United States. It is open daily. There is a nominal fee for admission, with free admission for locals on the first Sunday of every month.
Phoenix canariensis, the Canary Island date palm or pineapple palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Northwestern Africa. It is a relative of Phoenix dactylifera, the true date palm. It is the natural symbol of the Canary Islands, together with the canary Serinus canaria. Mature P. canariensis are often used in ornamental landscaping and are collected and transplanted to their new planting location. A Canary Island date palm with 10 m (30 ft) of trunk is about 60 years of age.
The Orto Botanico di Palermo is both a botanical garden and a research and educational institution of the Department of Botany of the University of Palermo. The garden lies within the city of Palermo, Italy at 10 m (33 ft) above sea-level. It covers about 0.12 km2 on top of red soil that has evolved on a limestone tuff substratum.
Coccothrinax is a genus of palms in the family Arecaceae. There are more than 50 species described in the genus, plus many synonyms and subspecies. A new species was described as recently as 2017. Many Coccothrinax produce thatch. In Spanish-speaking countries, guano is a common name applied to Coccothrinax palms. The species are native throughout the Caribbean, the Bahamas, extreme southern Florida and southeastern Mexico, but most of the species are known only from Cuba.
Coccothrinax boschiana is a palm endemic to dry forests on limestone on the Sierra Martín García ridge and Sierra de Neiba on the Barahona Peninsula in the south of the Dominican Republic on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. This species was first described in 1997.
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.
The Palmetum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a botanical garden of 120,000 m2 specialized in palms (Arecaceae). It is an artificial hill, with views of the ocean, located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The gardens include a large system of waterfalls, streams and ponds, a museum dedicated to palms, and a display shade house. The project was started in 1995 on a former landfill and only opened to the public in 2014. The valuable palm collection gathers about 600 species of palms and it is focused on the ones native to world islands. Trees and shrubs of other plant families are also displayed, organised in "biogeographical sections". All gardens are maintained with no pesticides and no fertilizers, different species of wild birds are easily seen in the palmetum.
Malva acerifolia, also frequently known under the synonyms Lavatera acerifolia or Malva canariensis is a shrub endemic to the Canary Islands, belonging to the family Malvaceae.
The San Juan Botanical Garden, officially known as the Botanical Garden of the University of Puerto Rico, is located in the Caribbean city of San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico. This lush 300-acre (1.2 km2) “urban garden” of native and exotic flora serves as a laboratory for the study, conservation and enrichment of plants, trees, flowers, grasses and many other plants. Seventy-five acres are landscaped and open to the general public as well as researchers.
Coccothrinax jamaicensis, the silver thatch or Jamaican silver thatch, is a fan palm that is endemic to Jamaica.
Coccothrinax torrida is a palm endemic to southeastern Cuba. It is known from a single isolated hill on the coast of the Guantánamo Province. The climate of the area is described as semi-desert with 9 or 10 dry months. Like other members of the genus, C. torrida is a fan palm. Trees are single-stemmed, between 2 and 8 m tall with stems 2.5 to 3.9 cm in diameter. The fruit is creamy white, 4.8–6.3 mm in diameter.
Frère León was a French-born Cuban botanist and De La Salle Brother. Born Joseph Sylvestre Sauget in Arbois, Jura, León was an important contributor to the botanical exploration of Cuba and co-authored, with Frère Alain, the five-volume Flora of Cuba which remains the standard reference on the topic.
A palmetum is a collection of palms (Arecaceae) and not a natural population of palms. Most palmeta are botanical gardens specialized in growing, research, conserve and display species of the family Arecaceae.
The Parque Central de Arona is a public park of 42,000 square metres in Arona, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. It is made up of several squares and gardens in the tourist centre of Playa de las Americas.
Coccothrinax jimenezii is a fan palm which is endemic to the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. First formally described in 2013, the species is only known from two small populations, and is considered critically endangered.
Coccothrinax spirituana is a fan palm which is palm endemic to central Cuba. Populations have been found in Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Ávila provinces. Its leaves are ash-grey in colour on their upper and lower surfaces, a characteristic which is not found in other members of the genus. The species was described in 2017. Specimens of the palm were collected in Sancti Spíritus Province in 1975 and 1995.
The Palm Trees Park, also known simply as Las Palmeras, is a public park in the heart of Pontevedra in Spain. It is the most representative and emblematic green area in the city centre, together with the Alameda de Pontevedra.
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