Guihaia grossifibrosa
Guihaia (gwee-hah-EE-ah) grossifibrosa (groh-sihf-ih-BROH-sah) | |||||||
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In habitat. Photo-Rare Palm Seeds.com | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
China Southeast, Vietnam. (22.625504°N, 105.952148°E)Description
Clustering fan palm to about 1.8 m tall; stem erect or decumbent, about 1 m tall, 23 cm in diam. Leaves several in crown; sheath tubular, prolonged into a triangular tongue-like lobe to 10 cm opposite the petiole, distintegrating into a lattice of broad flat fibers but the margins remaining entire; petiole usually 40-50 cm long, the longest up to 1.8 m, ca. 3-4 mm wide, ± hemispherical in cross-section, unarmed, bearing scattered caducous scales; adaxial hastula rounded, about 6 mm x 6 mm, fringed with caducous hairs; lamina to about 35 cm in diam. at the mid-line, divided to about 'Ys or almost to the insertion into, about 10-21 single-fold (rarely two-fold) reduplicate segments up to about 15 mm wide, the outermost segments very narrow, the segment tips very briefly bifid, adaxial surface glabrous, abaxial surface slightly paler, with very sparse dot-like scales; transverse veinlets short, conspicuous. Inflorescences 80 cm long, with 25 partial inflorescences branching to the 4th order; peduncle to about 40 cm long bearing a single peduncular bract; rachis shorter than the peduncle; rachillae to 10 cm x 1 mm or less. Staminate flower about 2.2 mm long; sepals about 0.8 x 0.8 mm, apex mucronate; corolla about 2 mm long, the lobes about 1.5 mm wide, with appendage on adaxial surface; anthers about 0.3 mm in diam. Pistillate flower about 2.2 x 1.5 mm; sepals about 1 x 1 mm ovate-orbicular, glabrous; corolla about 2 mm long, the lobes about 1.5 mm wide, with appendage on adaxial surface; staminodes minute, the empty anthers about 0.3 mm long; carpels about 0.6 x 0.4 mm. Mature fruit ± ellipsoidal, about 6-8 x 4-5 mm; epicarp blueblack; seed ± ellipsoidal about 5 x 2.5 mm. (J. Dransfield. 1985)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.
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Unbranched dioecious fan palm, solitary or in clumps of 2 to 5 individual stems of different height, rarely forming ± dense groups with more than 5 trunks, each terminated by a very open crown. Trunk rigid, erect, 0.5 to 2.5 m tall (female samples usually more compact and smaller, up to 2 m high) in upper part densely covered with persistent leaf sheaths, 4 to 8 cm in diam., bare near the ground, 1.5 to 2.5 cm in diam., with internodes 1 to 1.5 cm long. Leaves 6 to 12(14) in the crown; sheaths, when young narrow, cylindrical, hardly splitting, 12 to 18 cm long, 1 to 1.5 cm wide, dull brown, with dull gray-brown papyraceous hairs; sheaths of old leaves widening to 6 to 8 cm, deep brown to black, glabrous, shortly cylindrical to broad ovate, inflated, split into linear, very rigid, coarse, woody, wire-like anastomosing segments, often disintegrating into free, more or less reflexed spike-like tips, surrounding stem with wire-like rigid netlike covering; ligule-like tip deep brown to black, glabrous, erect, 6 to 15 cm long, with very rigid and hard, beak-like apex, at the base dissected into network of numerous anastomosing linear rigid segments; petiole narrow, slender, rigid, 0.5 to 1 m long, 2 to 3 mm broad, subterete, broadening and flattened to the base up to 5 to 6 mm wide, slightly curved in basal portion (strongly curved in old leaves), ± straight toward the leaf blade, glabrous, smooth along margin, green or dull brown near trunk; adaxial hastula semi-circular, erect, 2 to 2.5 mm high, sometimes irregularly dissected into two unequal lobes, hairy when young with dull gray-brown papyraceous caducous hairs, on old leaves glabrous; leaf blade leathery, dark green above, light green (sometime whitish) below, broadly fan shaped in outline, 40 to 45 cm long from hastula, palmately segmented from near the base into 6 to 10(12) unequal segments, each segment linear to elliptic, (0.8)1 to 3(6) cm wide, broadest segments commonly partially dissected from periphery, smooth (in male samples) to sparsely, very finely denticulate along margin (in female samples) with 1 to 6(10) prominent longitudinal veins, longitudinally folded, sometimes slightly narrowing to acute apex, hairy above (in young leaves) at the base with sparse short papyraceous dull gray-brown hairs. Inflorescence 1 to 2(3), branched to 3(4) order, situated in leaf axils near the apex of the trunk, 40 to 70 cm long, with light dull brownish to deep brown, rigid, narrowly lanceolate smooth laterally compressed basal bracts; basal bracts 2(3), 15 to 30 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide, densely hairy with dull gray-brown short papyraceous hairs (when young) or glabrous (when old), tubular in basal portion, acuminate at the apex; peduncle erect, very rigid, 20 to 30 cm long, 5 to 7 mm broad, oval in cross section, enveloped by basal bracts; rachis very rigid, 20 to 25 cm long, 3 to 4 mm wide, slightly flexuous, with 2 to 3 main branches, with 1 rigid brown bract similar to basal inflorescence bracts, hairy (when young), 6 to 9 cm long, 4 to 8 mm broad; rachillae numerous, (0.5)1.5 to 8(10) cm long, rather straight, rigid, with numerous, sessile, densely spirally arranged, yellowish to yellow-green flowers, each flower with very small insignificant triangular bracteole. Flowers unisexual, sessile, radially symmetrical; male flowers shortly cylindrical or broadly shortly conical, 2.4 to 2.6 mm long, about 2 mm wide, campanulate; sepals 3, free, scale-like, ovate to subquadrate, 2 to 2.2 mm long, 2 to 2.4 mm broad, indistinctly trilobed or broadly tridentate at apex, thickening into broad inflated broadly triangular woody base; petals 3, narrowly triangular, 2.4 to 2.6 mm long, 1.5 to 1.8 mm wide, with orbicular apex, three times longer than sepals, inside at the apex with prominent hemispherical cushion, connate from the base to 3/4 their length into conical fleshy tube, finely longitudinally wrinkled; stamens 6, ± similar, in two whorls, not exceeding thepetals, filaments adnate to the perianth, anthers subsessile oblong reniform, 0.3 to 0.4 mm long, 0.2 to 0.3 mm broad, dehiscing longitudinally along lateral margin; pistillodes absent; female flowers shortly cylindrical to subglobose, 2 to 2.2 mm long and broad; sepals 3, free, scale-like, broadly ovate to suborbiculate, 1.4 to 1.6 mm long and broad, thickened at the base, finely verrucose outside; petals 3, ovate, about 2 mm long, 1.8 mm wide, outside in upper part with transverse low inflated band, at basal half smooth or indistinctly longitudinally wrinkled, in apical portion with irregular transverse rough wrinkles, deeply connate into rigid woody cupule with only free roundish apices of petals; staminodes 3 (rudiments of stamen of inner whorl), small, tooth-like; gynoecium unknown. Fruit 1-seeded; young fruit briefly stalked, ovoid, with thin exocarp and with few weak fibers in mesocarp; old ripe fruits (fallen on ground) black, spherical, about 1 cm in diameter. |
Culture
Cold Hardiness Zone: 9a
Comments and Curiosities
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Guihaia grossifibrosa has a dwarf habit with trunk 1 to 2 m tall (rarely up to 2.5 m) covered with unusual rigid scale-like leaf sheaths rather reminiscent of dragon scales. It is a highly endangered species of the shrub stratum in primary limestone forests on ancient karst limestone hills and low ridges 500-1100 m asl. This palm never forms large dense populations and occurs commonly as scattered individuals or loose groups including usually not more than 3–5 growths of different heights. Male plants are usually a little bit taller, while female ones are shorter, more compact and robust. The plants are commonly rooted in deep vertical pockets in eroded limestone filled with rich deep brown well structured friable soil covered with leaf litter. Cultivation of this palm may be an important factor for its protection. Drainage of the karst limestone ground is very sharp, and rain water never accumulates in soils even during heavy rains. "Guihaia argyrata previously called Trachycarpus argyrata. When we first found them, it reminded us of a trachycarpus and later confirmed it was not. It grows on limestone mountain with glittering snow white stuff to the underside of the leaves like T. princeps. But it is a very slow grower as compared to the latter which I think is medium one and produces only 3 -4 leaves after 2 years here. G. argyrata has a brother called G. grossefibrosa also growing on the limestone mountains. The difference in appearance between them is that G. argyrata have shorter petioles with white fur whereas G. grossefibrosa have longer ones with white powder at the backside. Both seeds are much smaller than those of T. princeps. The cold hardiness for both species could be around minus -7C to -8 C as indicated by journals." (Garrytsen) |
External Links
- Glossary of Palm Terms
- MODERN BOTANICAL LATIN
- "Just To Be Clear"
- http://www.palms.org/palmsjournal/2005/vol49n3p131-142.pdf
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).
Dransfield, J.1985. Guihaia, a New Coryphoid Genus from China and Vietnam. Principes 29: 3-12.
Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.