Areca jokowi

Areca (ah-REHK-ah) jokowi (joh-KOH-ee)
Scientific Classification
Genus: Areca (ah-REHK-ah) Species: jokowi (joh-KOH-ee)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Morphology
Habit: Solitary Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Siaku’ (Yamor dialect, Kamoro language)

Habitat and Distribution

Distribution:— Known only from two individuals palms cultivated in Gariau (Urubika) village, on the SW shore of Yamor Lake in Yamor District, Kaimana Regency, West Papua Province, Indonesia. These palm were grown from the seeds brought from hill forest at Kepala Air Kali Ima (headwaters of Ima river) in Gunung Daweri (Mt. Daweri), near Kewo village on the border of Nabire Regency of Papua Province.

Habitat:— Based on information gathered from the person who brought the seeds and planted this betel nut palm, the species grows in hill forest at an elevation of about 300 m altitude on soils derived from sandstones.

Description

Solitary, slender palm to 15 m. Stem 7–8 cm diam.; internodes 30–34 cm. Leaves 9 in crown, pinnate, 90–93 cm long (including petiole); sheath tubular, smooth, not fibrous, light green, becoming dull green; crownshaft well-defined, up to 40 cm long; petiole 5–6 cm long, flattened to slightly channelled adaxially, rounded abaxially; rachis slender, 45–69 cm long, ascending but not arching, with adaxial longitudinal ridge, rounded abaxially; leaflets 11 on each side of rachis, concolorous, more or less regularly arranged, spaced by 3–10 cm, basal leaflets 47 × 7–9 cm, with 7–10 folds, sigmoid, middle leaflets 47 × 3–7 cm, with 3–5 folds, lanceolate, terminal leaflet 30–37 × 4–7 cm, with 1–3 folds, truncate, notched tips, papery. Inflorescence infrafoliar, 30–37 cm long and 46 cm wide, crowded and compact, primary branches strongly divaricate, protandrous, about 30 primary branches, branching to 4 orders; prophyll not observed; peduncle 3 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, with prophyll scar half way along length of peduncle, green with numerous stellate hairs, darker green than rachis above prophyll; rachis green with thick stellate hairs as peduncle; rachillae numerous, crowded, not expanding widely, 14–17 cm long and 1–2 mm wide, green, elongate, sinuous especially in the distal two thirds, when sinuous part appearing thicker. Floral clusters uniseriate, distichous near the tip of rachillae, complete floral triads (comprising two staminate flowers and one pistillate flower) always solitary at the base of rachillae, but absent from many rachillae, ca. lower third to half of rachilla naked (with exception of solitary complete triad if present), the remaining floral clusters consisting of dyads of staminate flowers, or solitary staminate flowers near the rachilla tip. Staminate flowers sessile, triangular, elongate or tear drop-shaped, 3.2–4.3 × 2.0–2.5 mm in bud, asymmetric; sepals 3, low, 1.6–2.0 × 1.0–1.5 mm, united at the base, cream to light green; petals 3, triangular, elongate or spathulate, 3.5–3.7 × 1.5–1.6 mm, striate, cream-tinged with light green; stamens 6, 1.5–2.5 mm long and 0.2–0.7 mm wide; filaments thick, 0.5 mm long and 0.1 mm wide, darker than anther; anthers 1.3–2.0 mm long and 0.2–0.7 mm wide, sagittate, longer than the filaments; pistillode shorter than stamens, 1.3 × 0.4 mm, irregular. Pistillate flowers larger than the staminate, triangular, borne on the enlarged basal portion of rachillae, ca. 11 × 9.1 mm at anthesis; sepals 3, strongly imbricate, ca. 4.5 × 9.0 mm, triangular, asymmetrical, striate; petals 3, imbricate, triangular, ca. 10 × 8 mm striate; gynoecium 5.5 mm long and 3.0 mm wide; stigma ca. 1 mm long, pointed with 3 lobes; style ca. 4 mm long; staminodial ring not found. Fruit ovoid, 3.2–3.5 × 2.5–2.8 cm (young fruits); epicarp smooth, shiny, dark green (young), mature fruits not seen; mesocarp fibrous, ca. 1 cm thick, 1.75 cm thick at the base (below the seed); endocarp very thin, adhering closely to the seed. Seed not fully develop (young fruits); endosperm ruminate. Eophyll bifid. (Figures 1 & 2). Distribution:—Known only from two individuals palms cultivated in Gariau (Urubika) village, on the SW shore of Yamor Lake in Yamor District, Kaimana Regency, West Papua Province, Indonesia. These palm were grown from the seeds brought from hill forest at Kepala Air Kali Ima (headwaters of Ima river) in Gunung Daweri (Mt. Daweri), near Kewo village on the border of Nabire Regency of Papua Province. Habitat:—Based on information gathered from the person who brought the seeds and planted this betel nut palm, the species grows in hill forest at an elevation of about 300 m altitude on soils derived from sandstones. Local names:—Siaku’ (Yamor dialect, Kamoro language). Uses:—The fruits are chewed as a betel nut substitute. However, the palm has potential as an ornamental. Conservation status:—Data Deficient (IUCN 2012). Further study is needed to assess the conservation status of this palm, especially the population status. However, this betel nut palm is a cause for concern since its distribution appears to be limited and located within a logging concession. Etymology:—The specific epithet refers to the acronym the President of Republic Indonesia, His Excellency Joko Widodo-Jokowi. This new species is dedicated to Mr. Joko Widodo for his exemplary leadership, his simplicity, and more importantly for his concern for the development of Tanah Papua (the Indonesian Provinces of Papua and West Papua). The common name “pinang jokowi” is suggested here. Discussion:—Areca jokowi is similar to A. catechu Linneaus (1753: 1189), A. mandacanii Heatubun (2008: 199) and A. unipa Heatubun (2013: 59) in its solitary, moderate tree palm habit and inflorescence structure, but it can immediately be distinguished by its inflorescence, which is branched to four orders, although we note that this is difficult to observe due to the crowding of the branching at the base. The rachillae are crowded, being inserted very close together, and do not expand widely, appearing swept forward within primary branching systems. They are sinuous, especially in the distal two thirds and the floral clusters are arranged along one side (uniseriate), but are distichous near the tip. The basal third to half of each rachilla is naked (with the exception of a complete triad if present). Complete floral triads, comprising two staminate and one pistillate flowers, are always solitary and found only at the base of some of the rachillae. The remaining floral clusters consist of dyads of staminate flowers, or solitary staminate flowers near the rachilla tip. The pistillate flowers have a striking white calyx at anthesis. In contrast, the other three species have more laxly branched inflorescences with straighter rachillae (especially A. mandacanii and A. unipa, which expand and spread widely). Their floral clusters are distichously arranged, often with more than one complete triad at the base of rachillae, and the naked portion of the rachilla is much shorter. The calyx of the pistillate flowers is light to dark green at anthesis. The discovery of another distinctive new species closely related to the domesticated betel nut palm, Areca catechu, draws further attention to western New Guinea as a potential area of origin of this economically important and widespread species (Heatubun et al. 2012, Heatubun et al. 2013). The most immediate concern, however, is the ARECA JOKOWI, A NEW BETEL NUT PALM (ARECACEAE) Phytotaxa 288 (2) © 2016 Magnolia Press • 177need to protect these important crop wild relative species from extinction risk and threats of habitat loss, due to land-use change, deforestation and forest degradation, over harvesting and even climate change.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10a

Comments and Curiosities

Uses:— The fruits are chewed as a betel nut substitute. However, the palm has potential as an ornamental.

Etymology:— The specific epithet refers to the acronym the President of Republic Indonesia, His Excellency Joko Widodo-Jokowi. This new species is dedicated to Mr. Joko Widodo for his exemplary leadership, his simplicity, and more importantly for his concern for the development of Tanah Papua (the Indonesian Provinces of Papua and West Papua). The common name “Pinang Jokowi” is suggested here.

FIGURE 1. Areca jokowi. A. Habit. B. Apical portion of leaf. C. Middle and basal portion of leaf. D. Partial inflorescence. E. Pistillate flowers on rachilla with staminate flowers scars. F. Staminate flower. G. Pistillate flower in section. Scale bar: A = 2.5 m; B, C = 8 cm; D = 4 cm; E = 1.5 cm; F = 7 mm; G = 3 mm. All from Heatubun et al. 1252. Drawn by Lucy T. Smith.

FIGURE 2. Areca jokowi. A. Slender habit with irregular crown shape. B. Leaf and inflorescence held by Christian Anggua for scale. C. Inflorescence-a strongly divaricate panicle with crowded rachillae. D. Pistillate flowers, striking in their white colour. E. Close up of pistillate flower at anthesis showing stigma. F. Young fruit in section. A–E photos were taken from the holotype specimen (Heatubun et al. 1252), F from voucher collected by Ekspedisi NKRI Koridor Papua Barat 2016. Photos: A, F (Lt. Ardiansyah), B–E (Charlie D. Heatubun)

Areca jokowi Heatubun, sp. nov. Type:—CULTIVATED. Indonesia, West Papua Province. Kaimana Regency, Yamor District, Yamor Lake, Gariau (Urubika) village, 106 m elev., 3o41’48.87” S, 134o54’28.63”, 06 June 2015, Heatubun et al. 1252 (holotype MAN!, isotype BO!, K!)

A new species of betel nut palm, Areca jokowi, is described and illustrated here. this is the third species of Areca to have been described recently from New Guinea that is closely related to the widespread, economically important species A. catechu, the cultivated betel nut palm. a discussion of its morphological characters, distribution, ecology, habitat, uses and conservation status is provided, as well as a new identification key for western New Guinean Areca. (Charlie D. Heatubun)

CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN1, 21Fakultas Kehutanan, and Pusat Penelitian Keanekaragaman Hayati, Universitas Papua, Jl. Gunung Salju, Amban, Manokwari 98314, Papua Barat, Indonesia2Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, United Kingdom Email: [email protected]

Several individuals and institutions have been involved with the discovery and the process of describing and publication of this new species. I thank Pemda Kabupaten Kaimana via Bappeda & LH for funding the Eceng Gondok Expedition to Yamor Lake and Pusat Penelitian Lingkungan Hidup Universitas Papua, the authorities in Gariau (Urubika) village, Yamor District, Kaimana Regency, the plant quarantine and plant health office in Manokwari and Soekarno-Hatta airport, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Special thanks are due to Royce Kubewa, Marthinus Iwanggin and the Commanding General of Indonesian Army Special Forces (Kopassus), Maj. Gen. M. Herindra as leader of the expedition and his entire team—Ekspedisi NKRI Koridor Papua Barat Tahun 2016. I also thank Maj. Thomas Barus, Lt. Ardiansyah and Lt. Ali who collected the new voucher and took photographs at the type of locality. Drs Timothy M. Utteridge, William J. Baker, and John Dransfield helped in many ways. Lucy T. Smith rendered the beautiful illustration. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments. The manuscript for this new species was prepared during a study visit by CDH at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 2016, which was supported by Bentham-Moxon Trust. This new species is also a contribution of the Ekspedisi NKRI Koridor Papua Barat Tahun 2016. (Charlie D. Heatubun)

ARECA JOKOWI, A NEW BETEL NUT PALM (ARECACEAE) Phytotaxa 288 (2) © 2016 Magnolia Press (Charlie D. Heatubun)