Plectocomia dransfieldiana

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Plectocomia
(plehk-toh-cohm-EE-ah)
dransfieldiana
Pd2787026.jpg
Cameron Highlands, Perak, Malaysia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Plectocomia
(plehk-toh-cohm-EE-ah)
Species:
dransfieldiana
Synonyms
asia
Native Continent
America
America.gif
Morphology
Habit: Clustering
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

This species is endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, only known from the environs of
Cameron Highlands, Perak, Malaysia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Tapah forest reserve and further south at Fraser's Hill.

Description

This is a robust solitary rattan growing to 60 m tall (Dransfield 1979). Most specimens have been found on hillslopes in lower montane dipterocarp forest.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b

Comments and Curiosities

It was previously thought to be endemic to the Tapah forest area although another collection (Yap s.n.) collected in 1985 was made at Fraser's Hill. Population size is not known.

Conservation: Plectocomia dransfieldiana is only known from Tapah forest and Fraser's Hill, giving a very small extent of occurrence (EOO) of 430 km2. With the ongoing conversion of forest to plantations it is plausible to consider this species as under present and future threat. The restricted range meets the threshold for the endangered category and the small number of locations, continuing decline of habitat and lack of adequate protection indicate that Endangered is an appropriate listing for this species.

This species occurs within the vulnerable Peninsular Malaysian rain forests ecoregion (IM0146) (WWF 2001). The main reason for forest loss in this region is large-scale clearing for plantations of mainly rubber and oil palm for export production. In Malaysia an estimated 180,000 ha of land are being converted to palm oil production every year, and it is estimated that by 2022 there will be 5.6 million ha of land associated with palm oil production (USDA FAS 2011). This may in fact be the limit to the growth because there will be no more suitable land for production.

This species is not present in any protected areas. It is not listed on CITES and no ex situ conservation measures are known. This palm is listed as Endangered in Peninsular Malaysia in the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: Endangered B1ab(iii) ver 3.1



External Links

References

Phonetic spelling of Latin names by edric.

Special thanks to Geoff Stein, (Palmbob) for his hundreds of photos.

Special thanks to Palmweb.org, Dr. John Dransfield, Dr. Bill Baker & team, for their volumes of information and photos.

Glossary of Palm Terms; Based on the glossary in Dransfield, J., N.W. Uhl, C.B. Asmussen-Lange, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis. 2008. Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of the Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. All images copyright of the artists and photographers (see images for credits).


Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.

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