Arecaceae
Chrysalidocarpus

Chrysalidocarpus decipiens Becc.

First published in Beibl. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 87: 36 (1906)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Central Madagascar. It is a tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

General Description
Imposing and handsome clustering palm, sometimes appearing solitary but more often in pairs or with younger shoots at the base. TRUNK 6-20 m high, ventricose; 50-70 cm diam., at the very base 30-40 cm diam., near the crown 25-30 cm diam.; internodes 4-5 cm long, grey, more distally shiny green, nodal scars c. 2 cm high, grey-brown; crownshaft pale waxy-grey-green. LEAVES 9-12 in the crown, spirally inserted, porrect; sheath c. 70 cm long, pale green with waxy white bloom, adaxially dark chestnut red-brown, onethird to half open in the oldest leaf, with brown ligules where the sheath margin makes a right angle towards the base of the petiole, with waxy scales or glabrous; petiole 10-25 cm long, proximally c. 11 x 5 cm, distally c. 7 x 5 cm diam., deeply channelled with sharp edges; rachis c. 2.2 m long, channelled proximally, in mid-leaf 3-4 x 2-2.7 cm diam. and keeled, with whitish tomentum or glabrous; leaflets c. 90 on each side of the rachis, in groups of 2-6, fanned within the groups giving the leaf a plumose appearance (though almost in one plane in very young trees), stiff with only the apices bending over, the proximal 70-94 x 1.3-1.7 cm (the most proximal often very long, narrow and pendulous), median 73-101 x 2.8-4.3 cm, distal 26-42 x 0.8-1.2 cm, in mid-leaf interval < 0.5-1 cm, the interval between the groups 3-8 cm, main veins 1, the other veins faint, apices attenuate and unequally bifid, with sparse large (1 cm) red-brown ramenta on the proximal midrib, and many small scattered reddish scales on the fainter veins. INFLORESCENCE infrafoliar, strongly curved, branched to 2 orders, c. 110 x 65 cm; peduncle 15-17 cm long, 9-10 x 4-6 cm diam.; prophyll 39-41 x c. 10 cm, borne at 6-6.5 cm above the base of the peduncle, split abaxially, but distally with a small horizontal adaxial split, dark brown, ± glabrous; peduncular bract insertion point uncertain, quickly deciduous, 42- 58 x 12-16 cm, opening over its whole length except for the beaked apex 5-6 cm long, pale waxy brown with scattered scales; rachis c. 60 cm, greyish white, glabrous, with c. 13 branched and 18 unbranched first order branches, the more proximal of these with flattened bases to 4.7 x 1.3 cm diam.; rachis bracts c. 9 mm high; rachillae 7-40 cm long, 3.5-7 mm diam., with distant triads in pits; rachilla bracts 2.5-3 x 3.5 mm, acute. STAMINATE FLOWERS with sepals 2-4 x 1.8-2.5 mm, concave, keeled, gibbous, with membranous margins, apiculate; petals connate for 1.3-1.6 mm, the free lobes 3.8-5.6 x 2.3-3.7 mm, ovate, acute to obtuse; stamens 6, in 1 series, the filaments (2-) 3.2-5 mm long and connate at base for 0.3 mm, anthers 2.3-2.8 x 0.8-1.4 mm, dorsifixed, versatile; pistillode columnar,1.9-2.7 x 0.7-1.5 mm. PISTILLATE FLOWERS with sepals 5.1-6.3 x 3.5-5 mm, concave, orbicular, with small hooded tip; petals resembling the sepals, 4-5.3 x 3- 3.8 mm, concave, ovate, with small apiculus, staminodes 0.3-0.5 mm, dentiform; ovary 3.5-4.3 mm high, 1.5-2 mm diam. FRUIT broadly ellipsoid or almost globose, colour unknown, 22-25 x 20-22 mm; endocarp very fibrous with long anastomosing fibres. SEED 10-20 x 11.5-18mm, with rounded base and apex; endosperm homogeneous.
Vernacular
Betefaka, Manambe (Imerina), Sihara leibe (Betsileo).
Distribution
Central Madagascar, between Ankazobe and Fianarantsoa.
Biology
Plateau forest (remnants), either near streams or in rocky sites; alt. 1400-2000 m.
Conservation
Endangered. The number of individuals in the wild is estimated at around two hundred; their distribution area is prone to destruction and fire. This species is listed in CITES Annexe II.
[PW]

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: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/38532/2873559

Conservation
VU - vulnerable
[IUCN]

Uses

Use
Good palm heart; leaves used for erosion control (Betsileo).
[PW]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/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 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