Plectocomia pierreana

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Plectocomia
(plehk-toh-cohm-EE-ah)
pierreana (pierre'-AHN-ah)
Pp2787036.jpg
Khao Yai, Thailand. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Plectocomia
(plehk-toh-cohm-EE-ah)
Species:
pierreana (pierre'-AHN-ah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Asia.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
钩叶藤 gou ye teng

Habitat and Distribution

Cambodia, China South-Central, Laos, and Thailand. Lowland to montane rain
Khao Yai, Thailand. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
forests; below 1200 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan [Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam].

Description

Plectocomia pierreana is a spiny, climbing palm producing a cluster of unbranched stems that climb high into the surrounding trees. The stems can be 35 metres long and 5 - 90 mm in diameter, with internodes 11 - 24 cm long.

Stems clustered, to 35 m, 1-9 cm in diam. Leaf sheaths green with dark brown tomentum initially, with yellowish brown, needlelike spines to 2 cm, solitary or usually borne in short rows; petioles absent or 2-10 cm; rachis to 3 m; pinnae 25-40 per side of rachis, broadly lanceolate, with prominent mid- and submarginal veins, not spiny along margins, rarely with few small spines, irregularly arranged in clusters of 2 or 3 pinnae, spreading in different planes, gray abaxially; middle pinnae 20-55 cm, 1.5-5 cm wide at mid-point; cirri 0.5-1.5 m. Inflorescences to 15 per stem, branched to 2 orders, each inflorescence with to 6 pendulous primary branches, these 75-100 cm; rachillae subtended by prominent, ± rectangular bracts 2.5-5 × 2-2.5 cm, glabrous or with few whitish gray, appressed hairs adaxially; male flowers with 6 stamens; female flowers with stigmas to 6 mm. Fruits globose to ellipsoid, beaked, 2-2.3 cm in diam.; fruit scales fringed only, lacerate apices mostly breaking off except where protected by persistent perianth. (efloras.org)

Moderately robust, clustering rattan. Stems climbing to 35 m long, without sheaths 0.5–4 cm diam., with sheaths 1.–9 cm diam., internodes up to c. 30 cm long, the stem generally very slender near the ground, much more robust distally, particularly just before flowering. Leaves cirrate; sheaths mid green, armed with scattered, golden, needle-like spines, 1–2 cm long, sometimes arranged in horizontal combs of no more than 5 spines, and abundant caducous dark indumentum, spines shorter and sparser on distal sheaths; ocrea absent; knee absent; flagellum absent; petiole in distal leaves very short or absent, not exceeding c. 3 cm long, up to 2.5 cm wide; rachis to 3 m long; cirrus to 1 m long; leaflets up to 40 on each side of the rachis, irregularly arranged in groups and fanned within the groups, the largest 40–55 x 3.5–4 cm, adaxially shiny dark green, abaxially with a fugacious layer of white indumentum, usually conspicuous on newly emerged leaves, sometimes long persistent, the leaflets generally lacking bristles. Inflorescences male and female superficially similar, produced simultaneously from the topmost many nodes (up to 15 or more) the basalmost to 1.5 m long, decreasing in length towards the stem tip, the longest with up to 15 pendulous first order branches; first order branches bearing conspicuous pale yellowish green, reddish brown tipped bracts, tubular at first, soon splitting along their length, each subtending a short rachilla, bracts in male inflorescences 1.9–4 cm long, male rachillae 0.8–1.9 cm long, bracts in female inflorescence 2.5–4 cm long, female rachillae 1.2–2 cm long, all bracts becoming chestnut brown with age and persisting to fruiting. Fruit at maturity rounded, to 0.20 cm diam., with a short beak to 0.2 x 0.2 cm and covered in c. 35 vertical rows of dull brown scales with smooth margins and non-spiny tips. Seed rounded, basally somewhat flattened, c. 1.2 cm diam.; endosperm homogeneous. (Palms of Thailand.) Editing by edric.

Culture

Comments and Curiosities

Records of Plectocomia assamica Griffith from China (e.g., FRPS 13 (1): 53. 1991) were probably based on a misidentification of this species. (efloras.org)

Uses: The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of materials for basket making etc.




External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).


Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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