Orania timikae A.P.Keim & J.Dransf.

Keim, A.P. & Dransfield, J. 2012. Kew Bulletin 67: 127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-012-9356-6

Morphology General Habit

Small palm

Morphology Trunk

Trunk 4 m tall, c. 10 cm diam. (dbh), internodes c. 1.5 – 2 cm

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence spreading, branching to 1 order, c. 150 cm long, with dense red-brown tomentum; prophyll persistent, c. 25 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface with red-brown tomentum; peduncle c. 100 cm long, glabrous; peduncular bract one, c. 150 – 160 cm long, 3 – 3.8 cm wide, persistent, woody, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface densely covered with red-brown tomentum, splitting in the middle, from top to the base, heavily disintegrating into fibres when old; rachis c. 50 cm long; rachillae slender, 10, c. 44 – 45 cm long each, bearing 80 – 85 flower clusters, bearing triads arranged in the proximal half part, the basal c. 3.5 cm devoid of flowers, triads c. 1 – 1.5 cm distant, rachilla glabrous

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Pistillate flowers reddish dark brown, with calyx of 3 sepals, c. 2.5 – 3 mm long; corolla with 3 free petals, c. 6 mm long, 4 mm wide; staminodes 6, uniform, c. 0.8 – 1 mm long; gynoecium dark brown, c. 4 – 5 mm long, 2 – 3 mm wide, stigma with 3 elongate lobes, 2 – 2.5 mm long Staminate flowers reddish dark brown, with calyx of 3 united sepals, c. 1 – 1.5 mm long; corolla with 3 free petals, c. 8 mm long, 2.5 – 3 mm wide; stamens 6, 6 mm long, filaments always free, uniform, dark-brown, about 1 mm long, anthers elongate-lanceolate, pale yellow, always free, uniform, c. 5 mm long; pistillodes absent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruits unknown

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds Embryo

Embryo unknown

Morphology Leaves

Eophyll apparently bifid (Dransfield 2003 pers comm.) Leaves 6 in crown, subdistichously arranged, c. 3 m each long; petiole c. 2 cm diam., with dense red-brown tomentum; rachis c. 1.5 – 2 cm diam., with dense red-brown tomentum; leaflets regularly arranged — held in one plane, 23 leaflets on each side of rachis, c. 88 – 90 cm long, 5 – 6 cm wide, leaflets c. 10 cm distant, adaxial surface green, glabrous, with red-brown tomentum on the midrib and some of the other ribs, midrib thick, others slender, abaxial surface densely covered with white indumentum, red-brown tomentum on every rib and conspicuously on the base of leaflets, midrib slender

Distribution

Endemic to an area between Timika and Tembagapura in the vicinity of a copper mine concession in Papua. Map 7.

Ecology

Orania timikae grows on a slope in forest transitional between lowland rainforest and heath forest at about 540 m altitude Other populations were seen and collected in the middle of a heath forest at about 435 m altitude.

Conservation

Vulnerable (VU D2). Although the palm is known from a restricted area, the local vegetation is heath forest, unsuitable for agriculture, and receives some protection by virtue of its being within the PT Freeport concession.

Note

From Timika, the type locality. This species was found during fieldwork in 1998. It has been collected from a rather unusual and unlikely habitat for Orania — heath forest. So far, only O. sylvicola in Sumatra and Borneo is known to grow in this type of forest. In the field O. timikae may look very similar to either O. dafonsoroensis or O. parva, but as well as the unusual habitat, O. timikae is distinct because it is the only member of the subgroup that possesses the subdistichous leaf arrangement, which persists through maturity. O. dafonsoroensis has the subdistichous leaf arrangement only at the juvenile stage. O. parva always has spiral leaf arrangement. Other distinguishing characters are shown in Table 10. As for O. dafonsoroensis, this species may have a potential use as an ornamental palm.

Vernacular

Unknown.

Use

Unknown.