Roystonea borinquena
| Roystonea borinquena | ||||||||||||
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Roystonea borinquena |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Roystonea borinquena | ||||||||||||
| OFCook |
Roystonea borinquena is a species of palm from the genus Roystonea nativeto the Caribbean .
features
Roystonea borinquena has a gray-brown to cinnamon-brown trunk up to 15 m high and a diameter of 26.2 to 47 cm. The crown consists of around 15 leaves , with the lowest leaves hanging down well below the horizontal. The crown shaft is 1.5 to 1.7 m long. The leaf stalks are 30 to 55 cm long, the rachis 3.8 to 4.5 m. The middle leaflets are 67 to 125 cm long and 2.5 to 5.2 cm wide.
The inflorescence is 1 to 1.4 m long and 0.7 to 1.2 m wide. The cover sheet is 43 to 74 cm long and 10.3 to 18.5 cm wide. The spathe is 0.9 to 1.6 m long, widest in the middle and with a pointed end. The side branches are 15 to 33 cm long and 1.4 to 2.5 cm in diameter.
The male flowers are creamy-yellow with bright purple anthers . The sepals are triangular to kidney-shaped, 0.7 to 1.4 mm long and 1.2 to 2 mm wide. The petals are elliptical to oval, 5.3 to 6.4 mm long and 3 to 3.7 mm wide. The six to nine stamens are 4 to 7.4 mm long, the stamens are awl-shaped, 2.9 to 6 m long, the anthers 2.5 to 4.3 mm. The rudiment of ovaries is very small.
The female flowers are cream-yellow, their sepals are kidney-shaped, 1.2 to 2.4 mm long and 3 to 4.1 mm wide. The petals are oval, 2.4 to 4.4 mm long. The staminodium is six-lobed, 2.3 to 3.2 mm long and free for 0.9 to 1.7 mm. The stamp is 1.7 to 3.3 mm long and 1.5 to 3.1 mm in diameter.
The fruits are spherical to ellipsoidal. Their length is 11.6 to 15 mm. The exocarp is brown to black. The endocarp is ellipsoidal and 9.1 to 11.8 mm long. The seed is dorsiventrally compressed, ellipsoidal and 7.4 to 10.1 mm long. The raphe is circular. The primary leaf is linear-lanceolate, 19 to 23.3 cm long and 1.6 to 2.2 cm wide.
distribution
Roystonea borinquena is very common on the island of Hispaniola and occurs here at heights of up to around 800 m and is only absent in the driest areas. In Puerto Rico it grows in low to medium altitudes on soils over limestone. On the north coast it is quite common at the foot of the limestone hills called mogotes . It is also found on the islands of Vieques east of Puerto Rico and Saint Croix (US Virgin Islands) .
use
In their area of distribution, the leaves of the palm are used for roofing. The fruits serve as pig feed.
supporting documents
- Scott Zona: Roystonea (Arecaceae: Arecoideae) . Flora Neotropica, Vol. 71, 1996, pp. 1-35. (JSTOR)