Arecaceae
Chrysalidocarpus

Chrysalidocarpus gracilis (Jum.) Eiserhardt & W.J.Baker

First published in Taxon 71: 1183 (2022)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is N. & NE. Madagascar. It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

Biology
Moist montane forest, on steep slopes; 500-1700 m. Said to be frequent in the forests of the Tsaratanana peaks, between 1000-1600 m (protologue).
Distribution
Tsaratanana, Marojejy, high ground near Maroantsetra and Mandritsara.
General Description
Clustering palm, occasionally appearing solitary. TRUNK 2-8 m high; diam. 3-4 cm, stepped and ringed, with some of the bark corky (diseased?); internodes distally dark green, 1-3.5 cm, scars 0.2-1.2 cm wide, pale brown; crownshaft conspicuous, pale green with wax. LEAVES 6-8 in the crown; young leaves tinged pink; sheath pale brown, 18-55 cm long, with rounded shoulders, pale green or brown, waxy, distally with few to many reddish scales; petiole 2-50 cm long, proximally 0.5-1.5 x 0.3-0.9 cm, distally 0.5-0.9 x 0.4-0.5 cm diam., with many scattered reddish scales, proximally with a triangular adaxial extension to the sheath lining; rachis 0.5-1.5 m long, in mid-leaf 0.3-1.6 cm wide, slightly keeled, with many reddish scales or only with some white waxy scale remnants; leaflets 25-45 on each side of the rachis, in groups of 2-5 in mid-leaf, group interval 2.5-12 cm, fanned within the groups, the proximal 8-33 x 0.4-1.8 cm, median 14-46 x 1.1-2.7 cm (interval 0.3-2 cm), distal 5.5-30 x 0.3-2.6 cm, main vein 1, plus thickened margins, with scattered scales to glabrous, or with a few ramenta 3-5 mm long, apices bifid, unequally attenuate. INFLORESCENCE infrafoliar, recurved, branched to 1-2 orders; peduncle 6- 11.5 cm, proximally 9-10 x 4-5 mm diam., distally c. 5 x 5 mm, glabrous; prophyll 8-34 cm x 1.2-4 cm, borne at 2-4.5 cm above the base of the peduncle, split over most of its length, pale brown, waxy, with scattered scales to glabrous; peduncular bract inserted at 3.5-7 cm from the base of the peduncle, 10-24 cm long, splitting over its entire length except for the 1-5 cm long beak, sometimes deciduous, pale brown, waxy, with scattered scales or glabrous; non-tubular peduncular bract c. 4.5 cm long; rachis 1.5-9 cm long, glabrous, with 0-9 branched and 5-19 unbranched first order branches, the proximal of these with a rachis up to 2 cm long, 5-8 x 3-4 mm diam., with up to 4 rachillae; rachillae 3.5-14.5 cm, green to cream at anthesis, sinuous, 2-3 mm diam., with scattered reddish scales or glabrous, the triads spirally arranged, quite dense, slightly sunken; rachilla bract rounded or acute, 1.5-2 mm; flowers cream or reddish, without scent. STAMINATE FLOWERS with sepals 2.8-3 x 2.6-3.2 mm, broadly ovate, proximally gibbous, keeled, acute or obtuse, ciliolate; petals connate to a receptacle 1.8 mm high, free for 2.8-3 x 2.6-3 mm, triangular and acute; stamens 6, equal, the filaments connate at their base for 0.3-0.5 mm, 2.8- 3.3 x 0.8 x 0.3 mm, flattened with reddish specks, the anthers 1.7-2 x 0.8-0.9 mm, dorsifixed, versatile, the locules parallel and obtuse; pistillode conical-columnar, 2.4-2.8 mm high, 0.6-1.2 mm diam. PISTILLATE FLOWERS with sepals 1.8-3.5 x 2.3-3.8 mm, keeled, rounded, ciliolate;petals 2.8-4.5 x 2.6-4.6 mm, ciliolate; staminodes six, flat, elongate, 0.6-1.3 mm long; ovary c. 3.8 x 3.2 mm. FRUIT subglobose to slightly obovoid, rounded at base and apex, 5-11 x 3-8 mm; mesocarp 0.5 mm thick; endocarp fibrous, densely anastomosing. SEED ellipsoid, 6-7.5 x 3.5-7 mm, pointed at the base, rounded at the apex, with a slight subbasal depression, the surface with anastomosing channels; endosperm ruminate, the intrusions somewhat dense, irregular, 1.5-2.5 mm deep.
Conservation
Vulnerable. The distribution area is limited. The fact that the palm-heart is highly esteemed bodes ill for the future. Numbers unknown.
Vernacular
Kindro, Lafaza (Antankarana); Fitsiriky (Sambirano Sakalava).
[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/38551/2877751

Conservation
VU - vulnerable
[IUCN]

Uses

Use
Palm-heart edible, highly esteemed. The hollowed out stems are used for blowpipes.
[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.

  • 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