Category:PONAPEA
Ponapea is a genus of palms endemic to Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Palau in the Polynesia-Micronesia Hotspot (sensu Conservation International). Since it was established in 1924, the genus Ponapea was taxonomically "lost" because its type specimens were destroyed in the World War II bombing of the Berlin herbarium. Its three species Ponapea hosinoi, Ponapea ledermanniana, and Ponapea palauensis, were synonymized under Ptychosperma since 1956 (Moore & Fosberg 1956; Essig 1978). A few grow in botanic gardens, from which DNA samples were obtained. Unexpectedly, DNA sequence evidence indicated that the species formed a separate lineage distinct from Ptychosperma, rekindling our interest in Ponapea as a distinct genus. Based on these findings, the genus Ponapea has been resurrected (Dransfield et al., 2005). (Dr. Carl Lewis, Researcher, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, and Dr. David Lorence, Director of Science, National Tropical Botanic Garden.)
Ponapea hosinoi, Ponapea ledermanniana
"PONAPEA"
The following 4 pages are in this category, out of 4 total.