Rhopaloblaste ledermanniana
| Rhopaloblaste (roh-pah-loh-BLAHS-teh) ledermanniana (leh-dehr-mahn'-ee-ahn-ah) | |||||||
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 Senderawoi, Wandammen Peninsula, Papua, Indonesia. Photo by Dr. William J. Baker, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb. | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
Rhopaloblaste ledermanniana is found on Papua New Guinea. Primary rain
Description
Moderately robust, mid-storey, solitary palm bearing up to 11 leaves in the crown. Stem to 15 m tall, 8 - 10(- 15) cm in diam., surface slightly rough with longitudinal grooves, dark olive-green, becoming brownish black with age, leaf scars prominent, internodes 6 - 8 cm. Leaf sheath 62 - 70(- 100) cm long, with dense greyish brown lepidote tomentum; crownshaft 62 - 130 cm long, c. 9 - 12 cm wide; petiole 15 - 20 cm long, concave on adaxial surface, greyish brown; rachis 2 - 3.8 m long, with blackish membranous scales on the adaxial surface; leaflets 59 - 90 each side of rachis, borne 2.5 - 4 cm apart, in one plane, semi-pendulous, middle leaflets 64 - 75 x 2.3 - 2.5 cm, linear, tapering acutely and bifid at the apex, discolorous, with twisted, medifixed or basifixed ramenta on abaxial surface of mid-veins, membranous scales as on rachis on adaxial surface of mid-veins near base of leaflets. Inflorescence 64 - 95 cm long, with a spread of 1.2 - 1.5 m, divaricate, branched to 4 or very rarely 5 orders, primary branches c. 18, 50 - 70 cm long, basal pair of primary branches strongly recurved; prophyll 26 - 37 cm long, 6 - 9 cm wide, with greyish brown, silky tomentum; peduncle 1.5 - 4 cm long, 4 - 6 cm diam., green with scattered reddish brown indumentum; rachillae slender, 17 - 36 cm long, 2 - 2.9 mm in diameter, greenish. Staminate flower 5 - 6 mm long, 3 - 4 mm diam. at anthesis; sepals 2 - 2.3 x 2.3 - 2.5 mm, rounded, striated near the margins; petals 3.6 - 4 x 2 - 2.2 mm, elliptic, glabrous; stamens 6, 5.3 - 5.6 mm long, filaments 3 - 3.5 mm long, connate at the base, anthers 2.1 - 2.5 mm long, 0.6 - 0.8 mm wide, elliptic, medifixed; pistillode conical, 3.2 - 3.5 mm long, 1 - 1.1 mm diam. at base. Pistillate flower 2 - 3 mm long, 3 - 3.5 mm diam., borne throughout the rachillae; sepals 1.4 - 1.5 mm long, 2.4 - 2.5 mm wide, rounded; petals 2.7 - 2.8 mm long, 1.5 - 1.8 mm diam., rounded with short triangular tips; staminodes 4, lobes 0.4 - 0.5 mm long, 0.4 - 0.5 mm wide at the base, acute at the apex; gynoecium 2.8 - 3 mm long, 1.9 - 2.1 mm diam., ovoid. Fruit 15.5 - 21 mm long, 9.5 - 12 mm diam., ovoid-ellipsoid, yellowish green when immature, becoming orange- red in maturity, with cupule of persistent perianth 5 - 6 mm long. Seed 10 - 12 mm long, 8 - 10 mm diam., ellipsoid-ovoid, testa black. (R. Banka and W.J. Baker. 2004)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.
Rhopaloblaste ledermanniana can be distinguished by its small ovoid-ellipsoid fruits, by its slender rachillae and by the inflorescence branching to four or sometimes five orders.
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Rhopaloblaste ledermanniana was first described by Beccari, based on two Ledermann collections (9718 and 8648) from the April River (April Flusse). Both of these specimens were held in Berlin and have been destroyed. Beccari's protologue was published posthumously in Botanische Jahrbficher, edited by Lauterbach (1923). After the description of the new species Lauterbach added a note that a third specimen (Ledermann 8708), we assume in Berlin, also from the April River, had been annotated by Beccari as Rhopaloblaste ledermanniana. The specimen seen by Lauterbach was also destroyed, but a duplicate of this collection is still extant in Kew and is an obvious choice as the neotype of the species. Examination of this fragmentary material has allowed us to include R. brassii in the synonymy of R. ledermanniana. Moore (1970) described Rhopaloblaste brassii as a new species because he could not equate this taxon with any existing type material and he had not seen the Kew fragment of Ledermann 8708. (R. Banka and W.J. Baker. 2004)/Palmweb. |
Culture
Warm, sheltered and moist. Tropical in it's requirements. Cold Hardiness Zone: 10b
Comments and Curiosities
Uses: The hard, outer part of the stem is used for making floorboards, bows and arrow tips. The shoot apex is eaten in Mianmin (Papua New Guinea) and Wasior (West Papua). (R. Banka and W.J. Baker. 2004)/Palmweb.
Conservation: Least concern. Rhopaloblaste ledermanniana is under no threat in West Papua as it has a wide distribution there. It is however restricted to the north-western and central-western part of Papua New Guinea, and does not extend towards the eastern most part of Papua New Guinea. The species may become threatened in Papua New Guinea if heavily disturbed in its limited, localised distribution there. (R. Banka and W.J. Baker. 2004)/Palmweb.
- IMAGE GALLERY
Wandammen Peninsula, Papua, Indonesia. Photo by Dr. William J. Baker, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Senderawoi, Wandammen Peninsula, Papua, Indonesia. Branched Inflorescence. Photo by Dr. William J. Baker, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Sorong, Irian Jaya Barat, Indonesia. Photo by Dr. William J. Baker, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Near Timika, Irian Jaya, Papua, Indonesia. Photo by Dr. William J. Baker, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Senderawoi, Wandammen Peninsula, Papua, Indonesia. Photo by Dr. William J. Baker, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Senderawoi, Wandammen Peninsula, Papua, Indonesia. Photo by Dr. William J. Baker, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb.
Hawaii. Photo by BGL.
Hawaii. var. 'brassii' Photo by BGL.
Las Marías, PR. Photo by Cindy Adair.
Photo by Rolf Kyburz.
Photo by Rolf Kyburz.
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).
Banka, R. & Baker, W.J. 2004. A Monograph of the Genus Rhopaloblaste (Arecaceae). Kew Bulletin, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 47-60.
Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.
