Hydriastele calcicola
Hydriastele (high-dree-Ah-STEL-eh) calcicola (kahl-see-KOH-lah) | |||||||
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Hydriastele calcicola. A–B. Habit. C. Portions of rachillae with triads. D. Portion of rachilla with fruit. All from Baker et al. 1096. All photos: W.J. Baker. PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press. | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
Distribution:—The type locality north of Kikori (Gulf Province) and sight records on the Mubi River (Southern Highlands Province; Baker 1997) of Papua New Guinea.Habitat:—Lowland tropical rainforest river margins, on karst limestone crags, 40–500 m. PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press.
Description
Solitary and gregarious, moderately robust canopy palm to 30 m tall, bearing 15–20 leaves in crown. Stem about 15 cm in diam., inner wood very soft and pithy; internode 4–5 cm long. Leaf about 2.7 m long including petiole; sheath about 100 cm long, not seen close up, crownshaft about 130 × 14 cm; petiole about 60 cm long, deeply channelled adaxially; rachis strongly arcuate; leaflets about 46 per side, arranged regularly, ascending, linear, with short, widely spaced ramenta on the abaxial, basal portion of the midrib; basal leaflets comprising about 4 folds; middle leaflets about 80 × 3 cm, single-fold, obliquely to truncately praemorse apically; terminal leaflets comprising about 2 folds, truncately praemorse apically. Inflorescence about 70 cm long including 3–5 cm peduncle, branched to 2 orders, protandrous; rachillae about 26; triads on average 11 mm apart, opposite and decussate. Staminate flower 17–19 × 3–6 mm in bud, cream; stamens about 13. Pistillate flower about 6 × 2.5–3 mm in bud, cream, with free sepals and free petals with conspicuous, triangular and valvate tips. Fruit about 15 × 9 mm when ripe, obovoid to broadly ellipsoid, bright red, with a distinct, dark, sclerotic zone encircling apical stigmatic remains (up to about 3.5 mm in diam.). Seed about 10–11 × 7.5 mm, obovoid to ellipsoid; endosperm homogeneous. PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press. Editing by edric.
Culture
Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b
Comments and Curiosities
Notes:—Hydriastele calcicola is a moderately robust, tall palm with arching leaves and ascending leaflets. It occurs in large numbers in the Kikori River catchment (Baker, pers. obs.), where it crows gregariously on limestone outcrops (hence the species epithet). Sometimes the palm emerges directly from near-vertical limestone cliffs. We note that it also occurs at relatively low elevation compared to similar species. Hydriastele calcicola is distinguished by its pithy, non-ventricose stem, ca. 15 cm in diameter, by its leaves with deeply adaxially channelled petioles and multi-fold basal leaflets, and inflorescences with 3–5 cm long peduncles. Hydriastele calcicola is most similar to H. gibbsiana but that species is strongly ventricose and has leaves with adaxially flattened petioles and single-fold basal leaflets. PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press.
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.