Arecaceae
Hydriastele

Hydriastele variabilis (Becc.) Burret

First published in Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 13: 483 (1937)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is NW. New Guinea. It is a shrub or 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: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Baker, W.J., Barfod, A.S., Cámara-Leret, R., Dowe, J.L., Heatubun, C.D., Petoe, P., Turner, J.H., Zona, S. & Dransfield, J. (2024) Palms of New Guinea. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond. 726 pp.

Morphology General Habit
Slender, multi-stemmed palm to 8 m, bearing 4–7 leaves per crown
Morphology Stem
Stem 2–4 cm diam. Leaf 95–140 cm long including petiole; sheath 27–45 cm long; petiole 9–30 cm long; leaflets 11–23 each side of rachis, regularly to subregularly arranged, linear; basal leaflets single- fold, pointed or obliquely jagged at their tips; apical leaflets comprising 4–11 folds, truncately jagged at the tip
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence 10–25 cm long including 2–2.5 cm peduncle, branched to 1 or 2 orders, protogynous; triads decussately arranged
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flower with free sepals and free, rounded, low petals Male flower not seen
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit 10–12 × 6.3–7.8 mm when ripe, ellipsoid to ovoid with ends tapering when dry, red
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed 7–8.2 × 5–6 mm, ovoid; endosperm deeply ruminate.
Distribution
Bird’s Head and Bomberai Peninsulas.
Ecology
Lowland or premontane rainforest at sea level to 1,200 m.
Vernacular
Sagarofa (Sumuri), Pinang Oetan (Malay).
Conservation
Least Concern (IUCN 2019). However, monitoring is required due to deforestation. Some localities have already been replaced by oil palm plantations.
Note
Hydriastele variabilis is a slender understorey to midstorey palm distinguished by its leaves, which have a well-defined petiole and regularly to subregularly arranged, linear leaflets and a terminal leaflet pair comprising 4–11 folds. The species is most similar to H. apetiolata and H. rheophytica, which both have regularly pinnate leaves, but the former species is less slender and its adult leaves lack a petiole, while the latter species is a rheophyte with flexible stems and apical leaflets comprising 2 or 3 folds.
[PONG]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/151357855/151358670

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Uses

Use
None recorded.
[PONG]

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 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

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Palms of New Guinea

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0