Wallaceodoxa raja-ampat

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Wallaceodoxa
(wahl-ahs-seh-oh-DOHKS-ah)
raja-ampat (rah-jah-ahm'-paht)
Np0077863452.JPG
Image-DR. CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN, DR. SCOTT ZONA & DR. WILLIAM J. BAKER.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Wallaceodoxa
(wahl-ahs-seh-oh-DOHKS-ah)
Species:
raja-ampat (rah-jah-ahm'-paht)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Oceania
Oceania.gif
Morphology
Habit: Solitary
Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Gulbotom (Wayaf or Gebe dialect).

Habitat and Distribution

Irian Jaya. Only known from two of the Raja Ampat islands, Gag Island and Waigeo Island,
Gag Island. Image-DR. CHARLIE D. HEATUBUN.
off the western end of mainland New Guinea. This palm has been recorded in lowland forest on limestone up to 50 m elevation. It has primarily been found in secondary and heavily disturbed forest, and old gardens, where it appears to grow as a relict from times when the forest was not disturbed. It is often found association with Areca macrocalyx Zipp. ex Blume, Calamus species, Heterospathe elata Scheff. and Licuala species.

Description

Solitary palm. Stem up to 30 m tall, 9-30 cm diam.; internodes with nodal scars inconspicuous, whitish brown. Leaves 11-19 in crown, 275-410 cm long including petiole; sheath tubular, 76-115 cm long and 16-30 cm wide, tapering to 10 cm wide; crownshaft 100-150 cm long; petiole 28-50 cm long, 2.5-3.5 cm wide and 1-1.5 cm thick at the base; leaflets 50-85 on each side of the rachis; basal leaflets 41-60 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cm wide, middle leaflets 70-114 cm long, 1-4.5 cm wide, apical leaflets 32-40 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide. Inflorescence 50-100 cm long and 75-80 cm wide at anthesis; peduncle 15-20 cm long, 4-6 cm wide; prophyll 50-60 × 7-12 cm; peduncular bract similar to prophyll; primary branches up to 27 (including terminal rachilla), 33-50 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cmbetween branches; rachillae numerous, 11-18 cm long, 12-15 floral triads per 5 cm length of rachilla. Staminate flowers 7-7.5 × 2.5-mm in bud near anthesis, whitish creamto greenish white; sepals 3, free, 3.2-3.5 × 2.5? 3 mm; petals 3, united at the base, 6-6.3 × 3-3.5 mm; stamens 58-64, 3.5-5 mm long; filaments 2.5 ?3 × 0.3-0.4 mm, white; anthers 2-2.5 × 0.5-0.75 mm; pistillode 1-2 × 0.9-1.2 mm, 2-3 lobes, c. 0.5 mm deep, c. 0.3 wide, cream to brown. Pistillate flowers 5-6 × 3.5-4 mm near anthesis, cream to light green; sepals 3.3-5 × 3.5-7 mm; petals 5 × 6 mm, light green; staminodes 5-7, 0.4-1 × 0.2-0.3 mm; gynoecium 4-4.5 × 1.5 mm including stigma; ovule c. 1.5 × 0.8 mm. Fruit 17.5-20 × 10-12 mm, light green and turning yellow, orange and red when mature; pericarp c. 1 mm thick. Seed 10-12 × 9-9.5 mm; embryo 1.5-2.75 × 1-1.75 mm. (Figs 6, 7, 8). (C.D. Heatubun, S. Zona & W.J. Baker - Three new genera of arecoid palm (Arecaceae) from eastern Malesia in Kew Bull.. 2014)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.

Distinguished from other genera of subtribe Ptychospermatinae (tribe Areceae) by its moderately robust, solitary habit, arching leaves, thick, white, lanate indumentum interspersed with large, brown-black twisted hairs on sheath, petiole and rachis, narrowly linear lanceolate pendulous leaflets with obliquely praemorse apices, white inflorescence axes, thick rachillae with rather crowded triads, short, irregularly ellipsoidal pistillode and rounded, strawcoloured endocarp with adherent, longitudinal fibres. (C.D. Heatubun, S. Zona & W.J. Baker - Three new genera of arecoid palm (Arecaceae) from eastern Malesia in Kew Bull.. 2014)

Notes: Wallaceodoxa raja-ampat is an impressive, solitary canopy palm that is recognised by its arching leaves with narrow, linear leaflets, the thick indumentum throughout the sheath, petiole and leaf rachis, and the white inflorescence, branched to three orders, with thick rachillae crowded with floral triads. It was discovered by the first author on Gag Island in 2006 (Heatubun et al. 2014) and is of grave conservation concern, both on Gag and Waigeo. Wallaceodoxa has been resolved as sister to Adonidia (Alapetite et al. 2014), but differs markedly from this species in the indumentum (thin grey indumentum in Adonidia), drooping leaflets in one plane with praemorse apices (ascending leaflets with acute bifid apices in Adonidia), the thick, congested rachillae (more slender with more widely spaced triads in Adonidia), the staminate flowers with 58 ? 64 stamens (45-50 in A. merrillii) and the ellipsoid pistillode (lageniform in Adonidia). As sister taxa,Wallaceodoxa and Adonidia represent a notable disjunction across Wallace's Line, the most important biogeographic boundary in the Malesian region (Baker & Couvreur 2012). (C.D. Heatubun, S. Zona & W.J. Baker - Three new genera of arecoid palm (Arecaceae) from eastern Malesia in Kew Bull.. 2014)/Palmweb.

Culture

Tropical in it's requirements.

Comments and Curiosities

Etymology: The generic name commemorates Alfred Russel Wallace, the great English naturalist and codiscoverer of the theory of evolution. In the Raja Ampat Islands in 1860 during his celebrated Malay Archipelago travels (Wallace 1869; van Wyhe 2013). This eponymy marks the centenary of his death on 7 November 1913. The generic name is derived by suffixing Wallace's surname with the Greek word (-doxa) to mean "to the glory of Wallace"

Uses: The stem of this palm is used for flooring, and the fruit is chewed as a substitute for betel nut.

Conservation: Critically Endangered.



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).


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

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