Prestoea acuminata
Prestoea (pres-toh-EH-ah) acuminata (ah-koo-mih-NAH-tah) | ||||||||
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"Cerro de la Punta, El Yunque National Forest, Camuy (where the Prestoea acuminata var. montana), and a swimming hole by Patinillas in Puerto Rico." Photo by Kyle Wicomb | ||||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. Widespread in the Antilles, Central America, and in the Andes from Colombia to Bolivia at 1000-2500 m elevation. It is found throughout the Greater Antilles as well as the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. Generally found in tall mountains of up to 1300 feet high. It forms the forestry of creeks up high in the mountains and on the steep mountainside of the highest peaks in Puerto Rico. It is found in Toro Negro State Forest, in the Puerto Rico Cordillera Central. The plant is native to Puerto Rico.Description
Stems solitary or caespitose (growing in tufts or clumps), and then with 2-12 stems per plant, erect or slightly leaning, (3+) 6-15 m tall, 4-20 cm in diam., usually gray with lichens, often with a cone of roots visible at the base. Leaves 4-10 per crown, spreading or erect; sheath closed for 1/3-½ its length and forming a partial crownshaft, 26-80 (-108) cm long, green, dark green, purplish, violet, or reddish brown, densely to moderately covered with appressed, brown, fimbriate scales; petiole 0-30 (-60) cm long, densely whitish brown tomentose adaxially, usually glabrous abaxially, glabrescent; rachis (0.6-) 1.1-2.6 m long, with tomentum like that of petiole; pinnae 30-60 per side, regularly spaced and stiffly spreading in the same horizontal plane, seldom erect, subopposite or alternate, linear-lanceolate, coriaceous, with prominent midvein adaxially and abaxially and with several prominent lateral veins, the midvein with ramenta abaxially; basal pinna 39-69 x 0.5-2 cm; middle pinnae (0.3-) 0.6-1.2 m x (2+) 3-6.5 cm; apical pinna 13-34 x 0.5-2.5 cm. Inflorescences corymbose, infrafoliar at anthesis; peduncle 3-20 cm long, 1-3 (-4) cm in diam. at peduncular bract scar, terete or slightly dorsiventrally compressed; prophyll 23-51 cm long, 4-6 (-12) cm in diam.; peduncular bract 63-98 cm long including a 3 cm long umbo, to 6 (-12) cm in diam., almost terete, often with other incomplete bracts present distally; rachis (17+) 40-85 cm long; rachillae 23-117, 18-74 cm long proximally, 9.5-23 cm long distally, to 6 mm in diam. in fruit, each subtended by a small bract or sometimes the proximal few rachillae with bracts to 6 cm long, almost glabrous or typically with scattered to numerous short crustose or granular hairs, occasionally intermixed with a few longer, flexuous, branched hairs or sometimes with a dense covering of branched hairs; flowers in triads proximally, paired or solitary staminate distally; triad bracteole low, apiculate; first flower bracteole obscure, second and third flower bracteoles ± equal, apiculate, 0.3-0.5 mm long; staminate flowers 4-6 mm long, either sessile or on short, flattened pedicels; sepals deltate to narrowly triangular, 1.5-2.5 mm long, gibbous; petals ovate or lanceolate, 3-5.5 mm long, white or pink with purple apex; stamens arranged on a short receptacle; filaments 1.5- 2.5 mm long, flattened; anthers 2-3.5 mm long; pistillode 2-3 mm long, trifid at apex; pistillate flowers 2.5-4 mm long; sepals shallowly triangular or depressed-ovate, 2-4 mm long; petals shallowly triangular to depressed ovate, 2-4 mm long; staminodes deltate or digitate. Fruits globose, rarely ovoid or obovoid, 1-1.2 (-1.8) cm in diam., the stigmatic remains lateral; epicarp purple-black, sparsely and minutely tuberculate; seeds globose, 0.8-1.4 cm in diam.; endosperm ruminate; eophyll bifid. (Gloria Galeano and A. Henderson)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.
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This is the largest species in the genus, and it is often a conspicuous component of montane forests in Central America and the Andes. Plants from the Antilles have cylindrical rachillae which are glabrous or rarely with a few crustose hairs. Read (1979) reported stellate hairs on specimens from Dominica. Inflorescences are more corymbose than those from mainland populations, and triads are superficial on the rachillae. Antillean specimens also have slightly larger fruits. In general, Antillean populations are more homogeneous than those from the mainland and occur at lower elevations, usually below 1000 m. We recognize them as var. montana, based on the above differences. A few collections from high elevations in the northeastern Andes have very large, almost ellipsoid fruits, with large, persistent perianths. We recognize these as var. dasystachys. Specimens from Central and South America have angular rachillae with either crustose or flexuous hairs, although occasionally both hair types occur together. Rarely rachillae are glabrous. Inflorescences are more elongate, and triads are slightly sunken in the rachillae. Populations usually occur above 1000 m. We recognize this widespread form as var. acuminala. The presence of a partial crownshaft is usually consistent in this variety, but occasionally populations are found with plants with and without partial crownshafts, and these latter forms resemble P. ensiformis. (Gloria Galeano and A. Henderson)/Palmweb. "A highly variable, medium sized pinnate palm to 8m tall, which can be either solitary or suckering. Typically the solitary form is referred to as P. acuminata var montana (which used to be P. montana), while the suckering form is known as P. acuminata. It has a green, white ringed trunk up to 25cm across, while the crownshaft varies from green through to reddish through to purplish black. The dark green leaves are medium sized, 2.0-2.5m long, and are held in a fairly upright manner." (Brandt Maxwell) |
Culture
"Likes rich, very well drained soil. Usually prefers some shade unless the humidity is very high." (Brandt Maxwell)
Comments and Curiosities
Etymology: The specific epithet montana, from the Latin, meaning literally; "from the mountain".
Uses: The fruit is eaten by the indigenous, mammals and birds, as well as the leaves of the species are used as thatch for building roofs. Is highly valued by the local population as a source of palm heart, which is the edible young apical meristem. For this reason, there is some local interest in cultivating this species. The fruit of Prestoea montana (Sierra Palm) is the favorite food of the Puerto Rican parrot. The leaf buds are commonly harvested as a food crop, both for local use and for export. The plant is also a source of wood material for thatching. Where growing wild, the plant serves a useful purpose of maintaining the watershed and protecting the soil from erosion. The stem is mainly pithy, with an outer ring of hard, durable wood. This outer stemwood is sometimes hewn into narrow boards for sheathing rural buildings.
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Three varieties of this species are recognised. Prestoea acuminata var. acuminata, Prestoea acuminata var. dasystachys, and Prestoea acuminata var. montana. The Ecuadorean plants belong to var. acuminata which is wide spread in Central American mountains and in the Andes. (Borchsenius, F. 1998)/Palmweb. Prestoea acuminata is the palm most widely found in southern Ecuador. It grows at elevations between 800 and 2600 m on both sides of the Andes range. It has various common names that differ from place to place: palmito, caño, tinguisoor sake. (Van den Eynden, V., E. Cueva, and O. Cabrera. 2004) "This is a solitary to mostly often clustering species from all over Central America and into northern South America and Puerto Rico. It has a nice, bulging crownshaft of reddish green to purple and a markedly ringed trunk. This variety has not been grown much in southern California and seems a bit touchier than P acuminata var montana, which is a very good grower here in zones 9b. Some varieties have a lot of color in the new growth (spikes) as well as the crownshaft. Related to Euterpe palms, and often also used as food sources (palm heart). The solitary form of P. acuminata (Prestoea acuminata var. montana) often sold as P montana. Thick, ringed green trunk. This palm also has a nice green, large crownshaft. This form is the most cold hardy Prestoea, and can be grown in zone 9b as long as there is overhead protection from hot sun and winds. (Geoff Stein) "P. acuminata is one of the two famous 'red crownshaft' palms that are found along the Inca Trail in southern Ecuador (the other species being Geonoma undata)." (Brandt Maxwell) Prestoea acuminata grows to 3 - 15 metres tall. The plant sometimes produces just one stem, though at other times a cluster of stems are produced; these unbranched stems can be 4 - 20 cm in diameter; they are topped by a crown of 4 - 10 leaves that can be up to 2.6 metres long. Prop roots covered with tubercles often are present at the base. |
External Links
- Glossary of Palm Terms
- MODERN BOTANICAL LATIN
- "Just To Be Clear"
- http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/56886-prestoea-acuminata/
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).
Gloria Galeano and A. Henderson. Flora Neotropica. New York Botanical Garden.
Van den Eynden, V., E. Cueva, and O. Cabrera, Edible palms of Southern Ecuador. 2004. 2004. Edible palms of Southern Ecuador.
Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.