Dwarf Date Palm
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Dwarf Date Palm ( Phoenix roebelenii ) |
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| Phoenix roebelenii | ||||||||||||
| O'Brien |
The dwarf date palm ( Phoenix roebelenii ) is a species of palm native to Southeast Asia that is often used as an ornamental plant.
features
The dwarf date palm is a multi-stemmed palm, in culture it sometimes remains single-stemmed. It forms clumps where stemless shoots grow around the base of higher stems. The trunk becomes 1 to 2, rarely up to 3 m high. The diameter without leaf sheaths is up to 10 cm. The trunk is erect or twisted, light-colored, becoming smooth with age. It is set with diamond-shaped leaf bases.
The leaves are arched, 1 to 1.5, rarely 2 m long. The pseudo-stem is around 50 cm long. The leaf sheath is reddish brown and fibrous. The acanthophylls ( leaflets transformed into thorns ) stand individually or in pairs, around 12 on each side of the rachis . They are orange-green and up to 8 cm long. The leaflets are regular, opposite, around 25 to 50 on each side of the rachis. They are linear, deep green up to 40 cm long and 1.2 cm wide.
Like all date palms, the species is dioeciously separated sexes ( diocesan ). The male inflorescences are pendulous. The cover sheet is leathery, two-keeled, split once between these, and around 30 to 60 cm long. The inflorescence stalk is up to 30 cm long. The side axes are 7 to 20 cm long. The male flowers have a three-lobed calyx 1.2 mm high and yellow-white in color. The petals are yellow-white with pointed ends. They are 7 to 8 mm long and 2 to 2.5 mm wide. The anthers are 3.5 to 4 mm long.
The female inflorescences stand upright and curve when the fruit is ripe. They are up to 35 cm long. The cover sheet is leathery, two-keeled and up to 35 cm long and 5 cm wide. It splits between the keels, releasing the inflorescence into the open. The inflorescence stalk is green and up to 30 × 3 cm in size. The lateral axes have a bulbous base, are orange-green and sometimes simply branched. The female flowers are light green and are in the distal three quarters of the lateral axes. They stand in the armpits of up to 5 mm long paper bracts . The chalice is a three-lobed cup and 2 to 2.5 mm high. The petals are 3.5 × 4 mm in size and have pointed ends. Only one carpel ever ripens to form a fruit.
The fruit is obovate, the flower envelope is preserved. During the ripening process, the color changes from dark green to purple-brown. The fruit is 13 to 18 × 6 to 7 mm in size. The seed is narrow, elongated, circular in cross section, with rounded ends.
Distribution and locations
The dwarf date palm occurs in the north of Laos (Nam Ou Valley), Vietnam (near Lai Châu , Lai Châu ) and in the south of China ( Xishuangbanna region in Yunnan ). It occurs mainly along the banks of the Mekong . It grows on rivers or on cliffs, on locations that are at least temporarily flooded. So she is a rheophyte . This is an unusual habit for palm trees.
In 1998, Barrow took the view that due to the small area of distribution and the collection of wild plants for trade, a classification as endangered (vulnerable) was justified. However, the IUCN does not have the species on its Red List .
Systematics
The species was first described by James O'Brien in 1889 . He named it after the orchid hunter Carl Roebelen (1855–1927), who collected the first specimens of the species in Laos.
The forms in culture, often single-stemmed, may be the result of hybridizations with other species. For a tropical species it is relatively insensitive to cold and survives light frosts. It needs a lot of water.
use
The dwarf date palm is an ornamental plant popular in Europe . It can be found in botanical gardens and private collections around the world.
The plant purifies formaldehyde , xylenes and toluene from the air .
supporting documents
- Sasha C. Barrow: A Monograph of Phoenix L. (Palmae: Coryphoideae) . Kew Bulletin, Vol. 53, 1998, pp. 513-575. (JSTOR)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Robert Lee Riffle, Paul Craft: An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms , 4th edition, Timber Press, Portland 2007, ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6 , pp. 404 f.
- ↑ Pottorff, L. Plants "Clean" Air Inside Our Homes. Colorado State University & Denver County Extension Master Gardener. 2010.
- ^ Wolverton, BC (1996) How to Grow Fresh Air . New York: Penguin Books.
- ^ Wolverton, BC and JD Wolverton. (1993). Plants and soil microorganisms: removal of formaldehyde, xylene, and ammonia from the indoor environment. Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences 38 (2), 11-15.
