Korthalsia laciniosa

Korthalsia (kohr-tahl-SEE-ah) laciniosa (lah-seen-ee-OH-sah)
Gunung Ulu Kali, Pahang, Malaysia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Korthalsia (kohr-tahl-SEE-ah) Species: laciniosa (lah-seen-ee-OH-sah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Morphology
Habit: Clustering Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Led beth

Habitat and Distribution

Andaman Is., Cambodia, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Sumatera,

PHILIPPINES: Leyte, Southern Leyte prov., Lake Danao. Photo by Wally Suarez.

Thailand, and Vietnam, Widely spread all over South Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Description

Clustering, medium diameter rattan. Stem branching, 25 m or more, with sheaths 2.1 cm in diameter,without sheaths 1.7 cm. Leaf 1.2 m long, cirrate: sheaths brown or red with very few spines to 0.6 cm long, disintegrating into embracing fibres; knee absent: ocrea very prominent, elongate, originally dry and membraneous but very soon distintegate into filaments: petiole very short: adaxial side of the rachis with two rows of spines; spines 0.7 cm long; leaflets 22 x 12 cm, equidistant, cuneate-rhomboid, irregularly toothed, dark green above, pale below, narrowed to a short petiole. Inflorescence large, twice or thrice branched; primary and secondary sheaths not tightly sheathing,distal end papery; rachilla densely tomentose; flowers arranged in longitudinal rows. Fruit widely depressed ovate, ca, 2 x 1.5 cm; scales in 13 vertical rows, orange red; endosperm ruminate. (C. Renuka, A Manual of the Rattans of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 1995)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Robust clustering high-climbing rattan, frequently branching in the forest canopy. Stems to 50 m or more long, without sheaths 2.5–6 cm in diam., with sheaths 4–7 cm in diam., internodes to c. 25 cm long in mature aerial stems, shorter near inflorescences and longer in juveniles. Leaves cirrate; sheaths bright green armed with sparse triangular spines to 6 mm long and covered in abundant red-brown indumentum and chocolate-coloured scales and usually completely obscured by the ocrea of the preceeding leaf; knee absent; ocrea conspicuous, to 20 cm or more long, closely sheathing at first but tattering to form a loosely sheathing pale brown net-like tube, sometimes armed with triangular spines as the sheath; petiole to 8 cm long in mature leaves, longer in juveniles, sparsely armed with triangular spines as on the sheath; rachis to about 120 cm; cirrus to 120 m, bearing irregularly arranged reflexed spines; leaflets up to 9 on each side of the rachis, broadly diamond-shaped, the upper margins conspicuously praemorse, the whole borne on short stalks to 2 cm long, largest leaflets to 28 x 12, adaxially bright green, abaxially chalky-white. Inflorescences borne simultaneously from the top 5–7 nodes, branched to 3 orders, to about 75 cm long with up to 30 rachillae; rachillae to 10 x 1 cm, red-brown tomentose. Flowers about 0.5 x 0.2 cm. Mature fruit rounded, ovoid or top-shaped, to 2 x 1.5 cm, covered in 15 vertical rows of dull brown unchannelled scales with fimbriate margins. Seed ovoid, about 1.5 x 1 cm, with a pronounced chalazal pit on one side; endosperm deeply ruminate. Seedling leaf simple with praemorse distal margins. (Palms of Thailand)

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: Used in the furniture industry.

Phenology: Flowering October - November. Fruiting April - May.