Arecaceae
Pseudophoenix

Pseudophoenix sargentii H.Wendl. ex Sarg.

First published in Bot. Gaz. 11: 314 (1886)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Florida to Caribbean, SE. Mexico to Belize. It is a tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Conservation
On the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, near Sosua, P. sargentii has been extirpated by coastal development. (Zanoni 1986). Several populations of this species are endangered, one critically so. In Florida, small populations remain on Elliott Key (Lippencott 1992), where they are protected, but have been extirpated from Long and Sands Keys, where they once grew. In Mexico, populations are threatened by coastal develop-ment and agriculture (Quero 1981, Durán 1995). The most seriously threatened population is that from the island of Navassa. Zanoni and Buck (1999) reported that Pseudophoenix on Navassa is now reduced to a single adult palm. Introduced goats prevent reproduction by eating seeds and seedlings. Unless immediate action is taken, this unique population will be lost in the wild (offspring from Navassa palms survive in cultivation).
General Description
Stem 1–8 m tall, cylindrical, 9.5–25.0 cm dbh, gray, with prominent leaf scars when young. Leaves 7–16 in the crown, spreading or ascending; leaf 0.9–2.2 m long; sheath 18–41 cm long, green with silvery gray scales near the apex; petiole 24–119 cm long; rachis 64–165 cm long, often with brown scales along its margin; leaf segments 37–122 per one side of the rachis; middle leaf segment 29–64 cm long, 0.9–3.2 cm wide, lanceolate with an acuminate tip, gray-green, glaucous abaxially, glaucous to glossy adaxially, ramenta present on the abaxial surface of the midvein at the base of the leaf segment. Inflorescence erect, ascending or horizontal, branched to 3 or 4 orders, 100–150 cm long; peduncle often hidden by the leaf bases, 60–88 cm long, 1.7–1.8 cm diam., glabrous; prophyll 24–105 cm long, 2.6–6.0 cm wide, bearing dark brown scales along both edges (keels); inner bract 10–74 cm long, 1.6–5.0 cm wide, bearing dark brown scales along both edges; rachillae 1.3–5.5 (–9.0) cm long and 0.4–1.4 mm diam., strongly divaricating. Flower pseudopedicel 2.2–7.6 mm long, 0.4–1.0(–1.7) mm diam., green to glaucous; calyx a shallow triangular cupule, 2.1–4.2 mm diam., green to glaucous, margins hyaline; petals ovate, 4.8–6.6 mm long, 3.2–4.8 mm wide, green, glaucous abaxially, spreading, with ca. 7–13 major veins; filaments 2.2–3.7 mm long, basally connate forming a short staminal tube, anthers ovoid, 2.4–4.1 mm long, 0.8–2.5 mm wide, yellow; gynoecium (in bisexual flowers) 3.0–4.2 mm long, 1.0–2.3 mm diam. (pistillode in staminate flowers smaller), green. Fruit 10.6–17.1 mm long, 9.1–16.1 mm diam. (in single-seeded fruits); endocarp 7.9–13.5 mm long, 6.8–11.8 mm diam., 0.1–0.2 mm thick. Seed 6.4–10.5 mm long, 6.6–9.6 mm diam.
Biology
Pseudophoenix sargentii is found in coastal habitats, although one site in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, is more than 30 km inland (where the palm population is thought to represent relic populations along an ancient coastline) (Quero 1981). It occurs on limestone or dune sand over limestone in seasonally dry forest, tropical hammock, coastal scrub, etc. (Seifriz 1943, Ledin et al. 1959, Read 1968, Quero 1981). Under harsh conditions, it grows very slowly such that mature individuals have trunks less than 50 cm tall. It grows easily but slowly in cultivation, a situation which has contributed to the destructive practice transplanting wild specimens to gardens and landscapes.
[PW]

Common Names

English
Sargent's Cherry Palm

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    • Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Palmweb - Palms of the World Online

    • Palmweb 2011. Palmweb: Palms of the World Online. Published on the internet http://www.palmweb.org. Accessed on 21/04/2013
    • Content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0