Hydriastele splendida
Hydriastele (high-dree-Ah-STEL-eh) splendida (splehn-DEE-dah) | |||||||
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Hydriastele splendida. A–B. Habit. C. Portions of rachillae with pistillate flowers. D. Infructescence. A from Baker et al. 820; B–D from Baker et al. 1443 (cultivated specimen). 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:—Known only from the lower slopes of the Mt. Jaya region (Dransfield et al. 2000) in Papua Province, western New Guinea. PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press.Habitat:—Heath forest on outwashed sands and gravels on steep and mossy slopes with many fallen trees (Dransfield et al. 2000), 435 m. PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press.
Description
Solitary or clustering, slender understorey palm to 4 m tall, bearing ca. 4–5 leaves per crown. Stem 1.5–2 cm in diam. Leaf ca. 100 cm long including petiole; sheath ca. 30 cm long; petiole ca. 20 cm long; lamina ca. 80 × 40 cm, entirebifid, obovate, distal half of margin rounded and praemorse. Inflorescence ca. 18 cm long including ca. 2 cm peduncle, branched to 1 order, protandrous; rachillae 3–4 per inflorescence (as many as 6 known from cultivation), scarlet; triads spirally arranged. Staminate flower not seen. Pistillate flower ca. 4–5 × 3 mm post-anthesis (when dry), crimson, with free sepals and free petals with conspicuous, triangular tips. Fruit ca. 1 cm long when ripe, cylindrical, pink, with a distinct, dark, sclerotic zone encircling apical stigmatic remains (up to ca. 2 mm in diam. when dry). Seed ca. 7 × 1.5 mm (when dry), turbinate; endosperm ruminate. PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press.
Culture
Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b
Comments and Curiosities
Notes:—Hydriastele splendida is a slender understorey palm, immediately recognisable on account of its entirebifid leaves in combination with inflorescences comprising 3–4 rachillae and ruminate endosperm. The species is similar to H. pinangoides in habit and reproductive morphology, but is easily distinguished from this by its entire leaves. Hydriastele splendida is more readily confused with entire-leaved forms of H. flabellata, but H. flabellata differs in its inflorescences with one (spicate) or two rachillae (three rachillae known from cultivation) and homogeneous endosperm. PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press.
Hydriastele splendida appears to be already well established in cultivation, often erroneously named H. flabellata. The species is described in greater detail by Heatubun et al. (2018). 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).
PETER PETOE, CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN & WILLIAM J. BAKER Phytotaxa 370 (1) © 2018 Magnolia Press.
Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.