Pigafetta (genus)
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Pigafetta is a genus of palm that is native to Asia. With a height of up to 50 m, it is the tallest known palm genus in Asia. It is named after Antonio Pigafetta , one of Magellan's travel companions.
features
The representatives are massive, single-stemmed, armored tree-shaped palms. They bloom several times and are dioecious separate sexes ( diocesan ). The trunk is upright, becomes very high and has conspicuous knot scars. The internodes are shiny, green above, later they turn brown. Numerous, somewhat prickly adventitious roots arise at the base of the trunk . The trunk bark is very hard, the pulp soft.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 28.
leaves
The leaves are pinnate , strongly curved, and fall off with a smooth stigma in higher specimens. The leaf sheath tears open opposite the petiole. The scabbard is unreinforced at the base, and above it abaxially (on the outside) it has low collars with numerous soft, flexible spines . The leaf stalk is missing in Pigafetta filaris and is very massive in Pigafetta elata . The stem and rachis are reinforced on the underside like the sheath. The leaflets are simply folded, numerous and regularly arranged. They are curved, slender, pointed. There are short bristles on the edge and long bristles on the central ribs.
Inflorescences
The inflorescences are in leaf axils , at the height between the sheets (intrafoliar), and sometimes come in time by the falling off of the liner sheet to be under the sheet crown. They are more horizontal and have two branches. The cover sheet has a tightly fitting leaf sheath and is densely hairy. The approximately eight bracts on the peduncle are tubular and somewhat inflated in male inflorescences. The inflorescence axes are longer than the stem. The side axes of the first order are hanging. The lateral axes of the second order are also drooping and carry the flowers. In the male inflorescence, each bract has a dyad of fertile flowers, in the female a single female flower.
blossoms
The male flowers are symmetrical. The calyx is striped, cup-shaped and has three flat lobes. The crown is longer than the calyx, tubular at the base and has three striped, narrow, triangular lobes. The six stamens start at the mouth of the corolla tube. The stamens are fused laterally to form a low ring. The anthers are elongated, slightly arrow-shaped. The stamp fragment is very small. The pollen grains are spherical and symmetrical. They have no germ opening (are inaperturat). The longest axis measures 29 to 36 microns.
The female flowers are approximately spherical. The goblet has three very short lobes. The crown is divided into three broad, triangular lobes almost to the base. The six staminodes are united by their filaments to form a short ring with six lobes that carries flattened, empty anthers. The gynoeceum is incompletely divided into three fruit compartments. It contains three ovules , is spherical and covered with scales. The three scars are short and bent back. The ovules are anatropic and sit basal.
Fruits and seeds
The fruit is very small, egg-shaped and contains a seed. The exocarp is covered in vertical rows with bent back scales. The mesocarp is thin, as is the undifferentiated endocarp . The seed sits basally, is slightly flattened on the sides and is surrounded by a thick, sweet sarcotesta . The endosperm is homogeneous with very shallow indentations and has a shallow pit on the side. The embryo sits on the side opposite the pit.
Distribution and locations
Pigafetta filaris occurs in the Moluccas and New Guinea , Pigafetta elata is endemic to Sulawesi . Pigafetta elata is a pioneer palm in disturbed mountainous locations and occurs mainly between 300 and 1500 m above sea level. It grows on old landslides, lava flows and on river banks as well as on abandoned land. Pigafetta filaris also seems to be a pioneer palm , but little is known about it.
Systematics
The genus Pigafetta (flower) Becc. is placed within the family Arecaceae in the subfamily Calamoideae , tribe Calameae . It alone forms the subtribe Pigafettinae. Pigafetta is a monophyletic group.
Two species are recognized in the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew:
- Pigafetta elata (Mart.) H. Wendl. : The home is northern Sulawesi .
- Pigafetta filaris (Giseke) Becc. : The homeland ranges from the Moluccas to New Guinea.
use
The trunks of Pigafetta elata are used in Sulawesi for columns in house construction, for wooden floors and for the production of simple furniture.
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. 179-181.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Pigafetta. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved November 1, 2009.
Web links
- Pigafetta on the homepage of the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden