Bismarck palm
| Bismarck palm | ||||||||||||
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Bismarckia nobilis |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Bismarckia | ||||||||||||
| Hildebr. & H. Wendl. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Bismarckia nobilis | ||||||||||||
| Hildebr. & H. Wendl. |
The Bismarck palm ( Bismarckia nobilis ) is a species of palm native to the savannahs of Madagascar . It is a large, solitary fan palm . It was named after the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck .
features
The Bismarck palm is a large, tree-shaped, solitary, unreinforced fan palm. It is dioecious, separate sexes ( diocesan ) and flourishes several times. The trunk is erect and covered with irregular rings of densely seated leaf scars. The lower part of the trunk is expanded.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 34, 36 and 38.
leaves
The leaves are folded induplicately and costapalmatically , as well as remaining on the plant in young individuals after they have died ( marzescence ). In older specimens with a well-developed trunk, the leaves fall off under their own weight. The leaf sheath is furrowed laterally at the base and has a conspicuous triangular crevice under the petiole. The petiole is strong, furrowed on the upper side near the base, distally rather flat; it is rounded off axially. The surfaces of the petiole are densely covered with white wax, as well as patches of reddish, sloping scales. The edges of the petiole are smooth. The adaxial hastula is often very large, the abaxial hastula is absent.
The leaf blade is divided to about a quarter to a third of the length along the adaxial folds, resulting in regular, stiff, simply folded segments. These are briefly bifid (two-part), the filaments between the folds are conspicuous. The surfaces are lightly striped and densely covered with wax. Scales sit along the folds.
Inflorescences
The inflorescences stand individually between the leaves (interfoliar). They are shorter than the leaves, male and female inflorescences are similar. The peduncle is round in cross section. The cover sheet is short, double-keeled and hidden in the sheath of the bract. There are several bracts on the peduncle, these are tubular, rather loosely fitting, and have a broad, triangular, split extension. Its surface is covered with scales and wax. The inflorescence axis is longer than the inflorescence stalk. Their bracts are similar to those of the stem, becoming smaller and smaller towards the end. The side axes of the first order are crescent-shaped in cross section and longer than their bracts. They have no cover sheet and branch out at the top into a group of three to seven spaced, kitten-like rachillae (flower-bearing axes). Sometimes there is only one rachilla.
The rachillae are more numerous on the male inflorescences than on the female ones. The rachillae are slightly curved and carry a tight spiral of rounded, densely haired, striped bracts . These are laterally fused together and partially connected to the axis, so that pits are created that are densely filled with hair. The female rachillae are usually more massive than the male. Each of the bracts has a single flower in the armpit.
blossoms
The male flowers are in coils of three flowers, are enclosed by hair. One flower appears per unit of time; each has a membranous bract. The calyx is tubular, membranous, with three short, rather irregular tips. The crown has a stem-like base about the length of the calyx tips, the base has three oval, hood-like, valvate tips at the tip. The six stamens are at the base of the corolla lobes, the filaments are long, briefly connected at the base, gradually narrowing. The anthers are medifix, pliable, and latrors. The rudiment of the punch is short and conical. The pollen is ellipsoidal and bisymmetrical. The germ opening is a distal sulcus .
The female flowers stand individually on a short hairy stalk that is greatly elongated when the fruit is ripe. The three sepals are triangular, briefly fused at the base. The three petals are smaller than the sepals, triangular and briefly fused at the base. The staminodes are fused with their flattened, triangular filaments and form a ring with three teeth, at the tips of which are flat, empty, sagittal anthers. The gynoeceum consists of three carpels and is rounded. There are three low, slightly bent back scars at the top . There are septal nectaries . The ovule is orthotropic with two lateral bodies.
Fruits and seeds
The fruit usually develops from just one carpel. It is ellipsoidal, egg-shaped or rounded. The scar remains and the abortive carpels are basal. The two abortive carpels often enlarge and form two swellings. The exocarp is smooth, shiny, brown with lighter spots. The mesocarp is fibrous, somewhat aromatic, the endocarp is thick, with irregular flanks and pits and with a central indentation at the base. The seed sits basal, the endosperm is homogeneous, but furrowed in order to follow the endocarpic invaginations. The embryo sits apically.
distribution
The Bismarck palm is endemic to Madagascar . It grows here as a striking element of the savannahs in the northern and western parts of the island.
Systematics
The genus Bismarckia is placed within the family Arecaceae in the subfamily Coryphoideae , Tribus Borasseae and Subtribus Hyphaeninae. The genus is monotypical, it consists of the only species Bismarckia nobilis . Her sister group is Satranala .
In the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, only the species Bismarckia nobilis is recognized.
Bismarckia was first described by Johann Maria Hildebrandt and Hermann Wendland in 1881 , the type species is Bismarckia nobilis Hildebrandt & H. Wendl.
use
In Madagascar, the trunk of the Bismarck palm is used whole or split when building houses, the leaves are used for roofing . The pulp of the trunks provides a rather bitter sago . The trunk is sometimes tapped to make wine. Outside Madagascar, the Bismarck palm is a popular ornamental plant in the drier tropics and subtropics .
literature
- 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. 309-312.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Bismarckia. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved August 4, 2018.
Web links
- Bismarckia nobilis inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Rakotoarinivo, M. & Dransfield, J., 2012. Retrieved December 24, 2013.