Iguanura minor

Iguanura (ig-oo-ah-NOOR-ah) minor
Form with undivided leaves. Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Iguanura (ig-oo-ah-NOOR-ah) Species: minor
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Morphology
Habit: Solitary Leaf type: Bifid & pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
None.

Habitat and Distribution

Borneo. Sarawak.

Form with undivided leaves. Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.

Description

Stem up to 4 mtall, 3/4-1 cm thick. Annuli 1 1/2 cm apart. Crownshaft about 10 cm long. Leaves marcescent. Petiole 4-10 cm long. Lamina simple 30-40 cm long and narrow, 12-14 cm wide or divided into 2-3 (7) pairs of narrow, parallel-sided segments each with an elongated apex. Inflorescence among the leaves, unbranched, total length, 30-50 em of which 15-30 cm is the peduncle. Inner spathe 14 cm long. Male flower with anthers lobed. Fruit olive-shaped, not ridged nor ribbed. (Kiew R. 1976)/Palmweb. Editing by edirc.

This species has been collected from a single locality, Gunung Pueh in Sarawak. It is a slender palm with particularly small and narrow simple leaves (Foxworthy 241) while the dissected leaved plant possesses long and narrow leaf segments; the inflorescence is unbranched - for reason of the small leaves and inflorescence it has been named I. minor. It is closely related to l. lVallichiana in possessing parallel-sided leaf segments, unlobed anthers and an olive-shaped fruit without ribs or ridges on the endocarp. I. wallichiana val' malaccensis in addition possesses unbranched inflorescences and has been collected from G. Mattang (Dransfield 768). I. minor is distinguished from I. wallichiana by the leaf shape - l. minor has a simple leaf which is particularly narrow, and has a deeply toothed margin at the apex and both simple and dissected leaves have a narrow apical notch. This single population at G. Pueh might be analagous to the populations of I. wallichiana subsp. malaccensis with distinctive leafshapes at Gunung Belumut and Kemaman in Malaya which are regarded as varieties of the large and variable Malayan population. Since information about variation within the Sarawak population of Iguanura is not available I have described the Gunung Pueh population as a separate species. (Kiew R. 1976)/Palmweb.

Culture

Cold Hardiness Zone: 11