Arecaceae
Chrysalidocarpus

Chrysalidocarpus mananjarensis Jum. & H.Perrier

First published in Ann. Mus. Colon. Marseille, sér. 3, 1: 33 (1913)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is E. Madagascar. It is a tree and grows primarily in the wet 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: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Vernacular
Laafa, Lakatra (general palm names on East coast), Ovodaafa (Antaisaka).
Distribution
East coast between Vatomandry and Tolanaro.
General Description
Solitary palm. TRUNK 6-25 m, cylindrical, 14-29 cm diam. (to 12 cm diam. near the crown), internodes 10-50 cm (near the crown to 5 cm), green, ringed, nodal scars white, 2-4 cm; wood very hard with red fibres. LEAVES tristichous, porrect to arching, 6-10 per crown; sheath 0.6-1.6 m long, a quarter to two-thirds open, whitish green to pale yellow-green to bright orange-yellow in recently exposed sheaths, with characteristic slighly sunken, white, waxy, large (4-12 x 2-3 mm) scales with scalloped edges, auricles c. 1 cm; petiole absent or up to 12 cm long, with scales as the sheath, 5-10 x 3-7 cm diam., deeply canaliculate with sharp edges; rachis 3-3.5 m long, in mid-leaf 2.5-4 cm wide, proximally canaliculate, more distally keeled, pale brown, with scales as the sheath; leaflets slightly irregular or in groups of 3-7, but always in several planes, arching, 121-149 on each side of the rachis, the group interval 1.5-17 cm, basal leaflets 35-150 (-300) x 0.8-2.8 cm, median 100-135 x 2.2-4.6 cm, distal 18-50 x 0.5-2.5 cm, acuminate, glabrous, waxy, main vein 1 with thickened margins. INFLORESCENCE infrafoliar, branched to 3 orders, arching and with pendulous rachillae; peduncle 18-40 cm long, 6-12 x 3.5-7 cm diam., pale green, glabrous; prophyll erect, 45-65 x 11-17 cm, clearly 2-winged, borne at 5-8 cm above the base of the peduncle; peduncular bract inserted at 15-18 cm above the base of the peduncle, deciduous, 80-120 x 10-20 cm, beaked for 6-10 cm, closed in the distal 15 cm, coriaceous, with a waxy bloom; non-tubular peduncular 8-29 x 4-7 cm; rachis 70-106 cm long, pale pastel green with 14-23 branched and 14-20 unbranched first order branches; rachillae whitish to pale pastel green, 17-58 cm long, 3-5 mm diam. STAMINATE FLOWERS with sepals 1.3-1.6 x 1.2-1.5 mm, red-spotted; petals 2-2.2 x 1.4-1.5 mm; stamens 6, uniseriate, filaments 1.7-2 mm, anthers 1-1.3 x 0.6-0.7 mm, versatile; pistillode 1.5-1.7 x 0.4-0.7 mm. PISTILLATE FLOWERS with sepals 1.5-2 x 1.6-2.3 mm, petals 2.2-2.4 x 1.8-2.3 mm; staminodes 0.2-0.4 mm; gynoecium 2-3.5 x 2-4 mm. FRUIT globose or nearly so, 4-6 mm, with fibrous endocarp, the fibres slightly anastomosing. SEED globose, 3.5-4.5 mm, with sub-basal depression, rounded at the base, apiculate or rounded at the apex, with homogeneous endosperm (occasionally with undulate edges).
Biology
Moist or dry forest (remnants), also ?rejuvenating in savoka; slight or steep mid slopes; alt. 30-200 m.
Conservation
Vulnerable. Though this species may be locally common, the total number HB has seen are only a few hundred. Over the whole distribution area the vegetation is being destroyed for agricultural land or by burning; the cutting for palm-heart targets this palm specifically.
[PW]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/38545/2875987

Conservation
NT - near threatened
[IUCN]

Uses

Use
Good palm heart, and cut down for this; the rachis produces a fibre formerly much used by the Betsimisaraka.
[PW]

Common Names

English
Laafa, Lakatra

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.

  • 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 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