Trachycarpus takil
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Trachycarpus takil in the Botanical Garden of Rome |
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| Becc. |
The Trachycarpus takil belongs to the subfamily coryphoideae in the family of the palm plants (Arecaceae).
history
In 1887 the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari received some seeds from hemp palms that grew on Mount Thalkedar in Kumaon / India. From these seeds he grew plants, one of which produced three male inflorescences in April 1902. Using these palms, he made the first writing of the Trachycarpus takil in 1905 . One of these palm trees from the original delivery from 1887 is still in the Botanical Garden of Rome and another in the garden of Villa Beccari in Florence. From the copy in Florence probably originates holotype of this kind, the Odoardo Beccari 1905 used for its first description. Many descriptions of Trachycarpus takil are circulating on the Internet today , but they are mostly based on specimens of Trachycarpus fortunei from Kumaon. The actual characteristics of this species were described by O. Beccari in the first description of 1905 ( Le Palme del Genere Trachycarpus , Webbia I, 1905).
description
Habitus
The trunk of young plants grows obliquely, later it becomes increasingly upright, straight and robust. It grows distinctly cone-shaped in the youth stage and reaches a maximum height of 15 meters. Old leaves stick to the trunk for life, and it is covered with a tight-fitting network of chestnut-brown fibers, which is not very dense and as “woolly” as Trachycarpus fortunei .
leaves
Similar to Trachycarpus fortunei, the leaf fans remain permanently on the trunk, and are similar to those of T. fortunei , but those leaves from the previous year that are located directly below the last inflorescences soon tilt down, but do not fall off and initially remain green . The leaf stalks (petioles) are about as long as the leaf, thin and delicate, triangular on the underside, rounded, very sharp-edged and reinforced with small teeth. The leaf is ¾ circular, 1 to 1.2 m in diameter, with 45 to 50 segments 60 to 85 cm long, measured from the hastula to the tip of the central segments. The segments divide the leaf blade in an irregular sequence up to about the center of the leaf, unlike Trachycarpus fortunei , in which the segments split the leaf blade much deeper. The segments are stiff and erect, green and glossy on the upper side of the leaf, and pruinose bluish on the underside. The central leaf segments have a width of about 3 cm continuously almost to the tip, where they are only slightly split or two-toothed, with blunt and splayed tips.
Inflorescences and flowers
This type of palm is dioeciously separated ( dioecious ), often hermaphroditic. The male inflorescences are almost like Trachycarpus fortunei in terms of size, ramifications and shape of the flower bulb ( spadix ), but with less densely arranged flowers on the small branches, in groups of two to four approximately 4 mm large, yellow, threefold flowers, which are provided with tiny, transparent cover sheets at the base. The calyx (calyx) is very small, semi-circular with almost above highly truncated and rounded sepals (sepal), the flower petals (Petale) wide and ovate, concave, jaded, twice as long as the sepals, six stamens (stamen) , the stamens (filaments) are cylindrical, at least a quarter longer than the petals, are bent outwards during full bloom.
However, Beccari's description of the female inflorescences is based on parts of plants that were sent to him from Kumaon in 1909, and most likely come from female Trachycarpus fortunei . Therefore Beccari described these inflorescences as follows: "They are very similar to those of the Trachycarpus fortunei in every respect, but the flowers are a little larger, the sepals and petals are a little more pointed, staminodes have broad, heart-arrow-shaped, anthers, the carpels ( Carpels ) are hairy, but hairless at the tip, conical, the handle-shaped part is curved outwards. " According to the latest research, all young plants of Trachycarpus takil have the tendency to flower male at first. This would explain why O. Beccari was unable to raise a female Trachycarpus takil from seeds. In the first description, O. Beccari had already written of well-developed ovaries in male flowers, as they occur in hermaphrodite flowers. With increasing age, the palms become hermaphroditic to female. The gender expression within this species is therefore not stable. The behavior shown could be an evolutionary adaptation to the isolated locations in Kumaon, Himalaya.
Fruits and seeds
The seeds are almost identical to those of the Trachycarpus fortunei , but somewhat more pronounced kidney-shaped (reniform), but are relatively much wider than high (10 to 12 mm wide and 6 to 7 mm high, and just as thick). The embryo is positioned somewhat more laterally than in Trachycarpus fortunei .
Distribution and location
The Trachycarpus takil is native to Kumaon, Uttar Pradesh, India, where it still grows in a few habitats at altitudes between 1500 and 2700 meters. Recent genetic analyzes have shown that they are closely related to the Trachycarpus oreophilus and to those Trachycarpus forms that were discovered a few years ago in Manipur.
Trachycarpus takil is one of the cold-resistant species, although due to its origin it can be assumed that it could be slightly less frost-resistant than Trachycarpus fortunei . With the exception of one in the Botanical Garden in Rome and one in Florence, there are no other verified specimens of this species in Europe. From 2005, however, seedlings are available in small quantities. In Kumaon this palm is under protection and the Indian state runs a breeding program, so that seeds of this species will probably be difficult to obtain in the foreseeable future.
use
Little is known about the commercial use of this palm by the Indian population. It can be assumed, however, that the fibers of this species of palm were used for similar purposes as was done with Trachycarpus fortunei in China. However, the fibers of T. takil are much coarser than the fibers of Trachycarpus fortunei and are therefore less suitable for the manufacture of raw textiles (Beccari 1905).
Care in Central Europe
Trachycarpus takil should basically have similar demands as Trachycarpus fortunei . However, there are no real empirical values.
swell
- Odoardo Beccari : 1905, Le Palme del Genere Trachycarpus , Webbia I
- Odoardo Beccari : 1931, Asiatic Palms, Corypheae , Annals of the Royal Bot. Gard. 13 - Calcutta
- Chris Stührk: Molecular systematic studies in the subtribe Thrinacinae, with special consideration of the genus Trachycarpus H. Wendl. (Arecaceae) , 2006.
- Photos from Kumaon by and released by James Verhaegen, Europalms.Be
- BS Kholia: 2009 "Gender variation in a threatened and endemic palm Trachycarpus takil Becc.", CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 96, NO. JANUARY 1, 2009
