Physokentia dennisii

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Physokentia (fy-soh-kehn-TEE-ah)
dennisii (dehn-NISS-ee)
Physokentia dennisii 001.jpg
Photo-Jungle Music, Palms & Cycads
Scientific Classification
Genus: Physokentia (fy-soh-kehn-TEE-ah)
Species:
dennisii (dehn-NISS-ee)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Oceania
Oceania.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
garagara in the Kwara'ae dialect.

Habitat and Distribution

Solomon Is.
Hawaii. Photo by BGL

Description

Trunk solitary, to 10.5 m. high, with a dense mass of 100 or more stilt roots to 1.2 m. high, some roots branched, the upper portion of trunk light green, with short internodes. Leaves spreading; crownshaft bright greyish-green, about 9 dm. long, considerably broader at base than at apex, covered when young or where protected with a dense indument of floccose scales or densely brown-puncticulate with persistent scale centers in age or where exposed; petiole elongate on juvenile plants but lacking or very short on mature trees (scarcely 2 cm. long); rachis about 1.8 m. long, densely covered above and below with minute, shining, brown, laciniate-fimbriate-margined, membranous, peltate scales or merely brown-puncticulate where exposed or weathered; pinnae 22-25 on each side of the rachis, regularly arranged, the central ones about 78 cm. long, 7 cm. wide at middle, tapered basally to an insertion about 1 cm. wide; upper margin longer than the lower and straight, the lower narrowed toward the acute apex; both surfaces more or less densely lepi-dote or puncticulate with minute, pale-membranous-margined, brown-centered, peltate scales or their persistent centers, midrib prominent and elevated on upper surface, with scattered floccose scales, the lower surface with prominent mid-nerve and 3-4 secondary nerves clothed with scattered, dull brown, irregularly linear, medifixed or basifixed, membranous scales 2-3 mm. long; apical and subapical pinnae shorter and narrower, 24-32 cm. long, 1.7-2.5 cm. wide, the tips often frayed and appearing praemorse; lower pinnae conspicuously narrowed and shortened toward base of rachis, the lowermost only about 15 cm. long, 5 mm. wide. Inflorescence greenish-ivory, about 9 cm. long from base to apex, paniculately three-times branched, glabrous; bracts not seen; peduncle 15 cm. long, 2 cm. wide at apex; rachis ca. 26 cm. long to last branch, bearing ca. 17 branches, the lower branch about 45 cm. long, again twice-branched basally, simply branched apically into about 9 branches, the rachillae slender, elongate, to about 45 cm. long, 3 mm. in diam., upper branches progressively less branched to furcate or simple. Flowers in triads to beyond the middle of the rachillae, paired to solitary stami-nate distally, or some inflorescences largely or entirely staminate; triads subtended by a prominent rounded bract often deflexed in fruit, the bracteoles surrounding the pistillate flowers membranous, narrowly rounded and usually produced in a prominent narrow ligular process exceeding the bract, the bracteoles and pedicels glabrous or with sparse short brownish or whitish hairs, not conspicuously white-barbate: staminate flowers white, asymmetric, more or less rounded at the apex in bud, 4-5 mm. long; sepals about 2 mm. high, 2.5-3 mm. wide, more or less rounded with ciliolate margins, indistmctly nerved when dry, the outer often slightly keeled; petals about 4 mm. long, 2—2.5 mm. wide. asymmetric, rather distinctly nerved when dry; pistillode angled-columnar with angled apex, about two-thirds as long as the stamens in bud: pistillate flowers in bud about 4 mm. high, the perianth in fruit of 3 sepals 3—3.5 mm. high and often 3—lobed (entire and rounded in bud), of 3 petals about 6 mm. high. Fruit subglobose, ripen:ng orange-red, about 15 mm. high, 11 mm. wide, 10 mm. thick, (from preserved material) with excentrically apical stigmatic residue, drying wrinkled; exocarp smooth; mesocarp with a layer of sclerosomes immediately under the exocarp and few thin fibers in thin flesh; endocarp fragile. 4-angled, 12 mm. high, 10 mm. wide and thick, sharply keeled on the adaxial (hilar) side and operculate at the base, rounded-angled abaxially; seed not perfectly mature, shaped essentially as endocarp; endosperm homogeneous. (H. Moore. 1969)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b

Comments and Curiosities



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).

H. Moore, A synopsis of the Genus Physokentia. 1969. 1969. A synopsis of the Genus Physokentia. Principes 13(4) 120-136.


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

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