Arecaceae
Hydriastele

Hydriastele calcicola W.J.Baker & Petoe

First published in Phytotaxa 370: 55 (2018)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Papua New Guinea. It is a tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

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
Moderately robust, single-stemmed and gregarious palm to 30 m, bearing 15–20 leaves in crown
Morphology Stem
Stem ca. 15 cm diam., inner wood very soft and pithy
Morphology Leaves
Leaf ca. 2.7 m long including petiole, arching; sheath ca. 100 cm long, indumentum not seen, crownshaft ca. 130 × 14 cm; petiole ca. 60 cm long, upper surface deeply channelled; leaflets ca. 46 each side of rachis, regularly arranged, ascending, linear; apical leaflets comprising ca. 2 folds, truncately jagged at the tip
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence ca. 70 cm long including 3–5 cm peduncle, branched to 2 orders, protandrous; rachillae ca. 26; triads decussately arranged
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flower with free sepals and free petals with conspicuous, triangular tips, cream Male flower with ca. 13 stamens, cream
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit ca. 15 × 9 mm when ripe, obovoid to broadly ellipsoid, bright red
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed ca. 10–11 × 7.5 mm, obovoid to ellipsoid; endosperm homogeneous.
Distribution
The Kikori and Mubi River catchments in southern New Guinea.
Ecology
Lowland rainforest river margins on karst limestone, 50–500 m.
Vernacular
None recorded.
Conservation
Data Deficient (IUCN 2019). Due to limited information on ongoing threats, a single extinction risk category cannot be selected.
Note
Hydriastele calcicola occurs in large numbers in the Kikori River catchment where it grows gregariously on limestone outcrops (Baker 1997). The species occurs at relatively low elevation compared to similar species and is distinguished by its moderately robust, pithy and non-ventricose stem, by its arching leaves with deeply channelled petioles and multi-fold basal leaflets, and by its inflorescences with short peduncles. The species is most similar to H. gibbsiana and H. ledermanniana, but the former has a strongly swollen trunk while the latter is more robust.
[PONG]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/151356826/151358580

Conservation
DD - data deficient
[IUCN]

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]

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.
    • 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 2026. 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 2026. 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