Dictyosperma
Encyclopedia
Dictyosperma is a monotypic
genus
of flowering plant
in the palm
family found in the Mascarene Islands
. The sole species
, Dictyosperma album, is widely cultivated in the tropics
but has been farmed to near extinction
in its native habitat. It is commonly called princess palm or hurricane palm, the latter owing to its ability to withstand strong winds by easily shedding leaves. It is closely related to, and resembles, palms in the Archontophoenix
genus. The genus is named from two Greek
words meaning "net" and "seed" and the epithet is Latin
for "white", the common color of the crownshaft at the top of the trunk.
The ringed trunks are solitary at 15 cm in diameter with a slight bulge at the base, occasionally reaching up to 12 m in height. The crownshaft
is over a meter tall, swollen at the base, and covered in white wax— which has given the palm its epithet album— and small, matted brown hairs, producing a rounded leaf crown 4.5 m wide and 3 m tall. The 2.5 to 3 m leaves
are borne on short 30 cm petioles; the arching leaflets are pointed at the apice, from 60 – 90 cm, dark green in color, and emerge from the rachis in a single plane.
On flowering, they produce up to six inflorescence
s which ring the trunk below the crownshaft, branched to one order, with white to yellow flower
s, which are male and female
; both pistillate and staminate flowers have three sepals and three petal
s, the former being smaller than the latter. The ovoid fruit
ripen to purple or black in color, containing one brown, ellipsoidal seed
.
Three varieties are currently recognized:
s of the Mascarenes, they experience warm temperatures, high humidity and regular rainfall.
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
family found in the Mascarene Islands
Mascarene Islands
The Mascarene Islands is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar comprising Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Cargados Carajos shoals, plus the former islands of the Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan banks...
. The sole species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, Dictyosperma album, is widely cultivated in the tropics
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
but has been farmed to near extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
in its native habitat. It is commonly called princess palm or hurricane palm, the latter owing to its ability to withstand strong winds by easily shedding leaves. It is closely related to, and resembles, palms in the Archontophoenix
Archontophoenix
Archontophoenix is a plant genus comprising six palm species that are native to New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia. They are tall, slender and unbranched.Species include:...
genus. The genus is named from two Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
words meaning "net" and "seed" and the epithet is Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "white", the common color of the crownshaft at the top of the trunk.
Description
Crownshaft
An elongated circumferential leaf base formation present on some species of palm is called a crownshaft.The leaf bases of some pinnate leaved palms form a sheath at the top of the trunk surrounding the bud where all the subsequent leaves are formed.The crownshaft...
is over a meter tall, swollen at the base, and covered in white wax— which has given the palm its epithet album— and small, matted brown hairs, producing a rounded leaf crown 4.5 m wide and 3 m tall. The 2.5 to 3 m leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are borne on short 30 cm petioles; the arching leaflets are pointed at the apice, from 60 – 90 cm, dark green in color, and emerge from the rachis in a single plane.
On flowering, they produce up to six inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s which ring the trunk below the crownshaft, branched to one order, with white to yellow flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s, which are male and female
Dioecious
Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...
; both pistillate and staminate flowers have three sepals and three petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s, the former being smaller than the latter. The ovoid fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
ripen to purple or black in color, containing one brown, ellipsoidal seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
.
Three varieties are currently recognized:
- Dictyosperma album var. album (Bory) Scheff.
- Dictyosperma album var. aureum Balf.f. in J.G.Baker
- Dictyosperma album var. conjugatum H.E.Moore & J.Guého
Distribution and habitat
Living in the coastal forestForest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s of the Mascarenes, they experience warm temperatures, high humidity and regular rainfall.