Copernicia
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| Mart. ex Endl. |
Copernicia is an American genus of palm . From the leaves of some species of wax is obtained, so the carnauba palm ( Copernicia prunifera ) the carnauba wax . Other species are grown as ornamental plants. The generic name honors the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus .
features
The representatives are medium-sized to large, mostly single-stemmed palms. They grow slowly, are armed, hermaphroditic and bloom several times. The trunk is partially or completely covered with the leaf sheaths of the dead leaves.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 36.
leaves
The leaves are fan-shaped (palmat or costapalmat) and induplicate (they tear open along the folds on the adaxial side of the leaves). The leaf sheath is fibrous, the petiole may be absent, short or long. Its edges are set with teeth. The adaxial hastula is short to very long, leathery, triangular, unreinforced or prickly, an abaxial hastula is missing. The leaf blade is wedge-shaped to circular. It is divided into simply folded segments at a quarter to a third of the length of the base. Their edge is often prickly. They are stiff, thick, the ribs are densely hairy.
Inflorescences
The inflorescences are between the leaves (intrafoliar) and often extend beyond the leaves. They are often densely hairy and branched up to six times. The peduncle is long, narrow and elliptical in cross section. The cover sheet is Roehrig. There is zero to one bract on the peduncle that is apparently two-winged and split at the tip. The inflorescence axis is the same length as or longer than the stem. The bracts on the inflorescence axis are tubular, with a tightly fitting sheath. On each side branch of the first order there is a cover leaf, the following bracts are tubular with a tightly fitting sheath and split at the tip. They become too small on the outside and are absent on the rachillae, but can also be present there. The rachillae (flower-bearing axes) are short to medium long, stocky to slender, often curved back. On them are membranous bracts arranged in a spiral, each of which has a single flower or 2 to 4 flowers. The group and each individual flower are supported by a bract.
blossoms
The flowers are hermaphroditic. Their sepals are fused into a three-lobed cup with a thick base, the lobes are usually pointed. The crown is mostly tubular in the lower part, above with three valvate lobes, which have distinct pockets and furrows on the inside. The six stamens are connected with their stamens to form a cup that stands at the mouth of the corolla tube. The free filament lobes are narrowed to narrow ends. The anthers are usually small, oval or oblong, dorsifix and latrors. The three carpels are free at the base. The styles are wide below, narrowing and fused. The scar is punctiform. The ovules are erect, basal and anatropic . The pollen is ellipsoidal and slightly to clearly asymmetrical. The germ opening is a distal sulcus. The longest axis measures 24 to 38 micrometers.
fruit
The fruits are egg-shaped or spherical. Usually the fruit develops from only one of the three carpels. The exocarp is smooth, the mesocarp somewhat fleshy with fibers, the endocarp is moderately thick and crust-like. The seed is egg-shaped to spherical, sits basal and has a large, oval basal scar (hilum). The endosperm is deeply furrowed (ruminate). The embryo is subbasal.
distribution
Of the species, three ( Copernicia alba , Copernicia prunifera , Copernicia tectorum ) occur in South America, two in Hispaniola ( Copernicia berteroana , Copernicia ekmanii ) and the rest in Cuba. The Caribbean species grow in savannahs and open forests of the lowlands in rather dry locations. The South American species form natural pure stocks.
Systematics
The genus Copernicia Mart. ex Endl. is placed within the family Arecaceae in the subfamily Coryphoideae , tribe Trachycarpeae . However, it cannot be assigned to any subtribe within the tribe. The monophyly of the genus has not yet been investigated.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognizes the following species:
- Copernicia alba Morong : The home is Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
- Copernicia baileyana León : Home is Cuba.
- Copernicia berteroana Becc. : The home is Hispaniola .
- Copernicia brittonorum León : The home is western Cuba.
- Copernicia cowellii Britton & P.Wilson : The home is Camagüey Province in Cuba.
- Copernicia curbeloi León : Home is Cuba.
- Copernicia curtissii Becc. : The home is Cuba.
- Copernicia ekmanii Burret : The home is northern Haiti.
- Copernicia fallaensis León : The home is Cuba.
- Copernicia gigas Ekman ex Burret : The home is eastern Cuba.
- Copernicia glabrescens H. Wendl. ex Becc. : The home is western Cuba. It comes in two varieties.
- Copernicia hospita Mart. : The home is Cuba.
- Copernicia humicola León : Home is Cuba.
- Copernicia longiglossa León : The homeland is eastern Cuba.
- Copernicia macroglossa Schaedtler : The home is western and central Cuba.
- Copernicia molinetii León : The home is Cuba.
- Copernicia oxycalyx Burret : The home is eastern Cuba.
- Carnauba palm ( Copernicia prunifera (Mill.) HEMoore ): The home is northeastern Brazil; she supplies the carnauba wax .
- Copernicia rigida Britton & P. Wilson : The home is central and eastern Cuba.
- Copernicia roigii León : The home is Cuba.
- Copernicia tectorum (Kunth) Mart. : The homeland is Colombia to Venezuela.
- Copernicia yarey Burret : The home is eastern Cuba. It comes in two varieties.
The following hybrids are given, all from Cuba:
- Copernicia × burretiana León = Copernicia hospita × Copernicia macroglossa
- Copernicia × dahlgreniana Verdecia = Copernicia cowellii × Copernicia macroglossa
- Copernicia × occidentalis León = Copernicia brittonorum × Copernicia hospita
- Copernicia × shaferi Dahlgren & Glassman = Copernicia cowellii × Copernicia hospita
- Copernicia × sueroana León = Copernicia hospita × Copernicia rigida
- Copernicia × textilis León = Copernicia baileyana × Copernicia hospita
- Copernicia × vespertilionum León = Copernicia gigas × Copernicia rigida .
use
The carnauba palm is economically important as a supplier of carnauba wax. All species are used to a greater or lesser extent: their leaves provide material for roofing, the trunks are used as building material, the fibers are made into brushes and ropes. The starch obtained from stems and fruits is edible. Seedlings are used as animal feed.
supporting documents
- John Dransfield, Natalie W. Uhl, Conny B. Asmussen, William J. Baker, Madeline M. Harley, Carl E. Lewis: Genera Palmarum. The Evolution and Classification of Palms. Second edition, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2008, ISBN 978-1-84246-182-2 , pp. 281 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Copernicia. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved April 15, 2020.
Web links
- Copernicia on the homepage of the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden