Masoala madagascariensis
Masoala (mah-soh-AH-lah) madagascariensis (mad-ah-gas-kahr-ee-EN-sis) | |||||||
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Marojejy, Masoala, Madagascar. Photo by Dr. John Dransfield, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Palmweb. | |||||||
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Contents
Habitat and Distribution
Madagascar. Marojejy, Masoala and Mananara. Endemic to the northeast of Madagascar where it is known from eight discontinuous locations between Mahavelona and Marojejy. Lowland rain forest; Occurs in lowland rainforest; grows on dry hillsides and in swampy valley bottoms, occasionally occurs on ultramafic soils. Recorded from alt. 50 up to 700 m.Description
Solitary palm. TRUNK 3.5-10 m, 30-35 cm in diam. when covered in sheath remnants, 14-20 cm in diam. for clean trunk; internodes 2-5 cm, pale brown; nodal scars faint; wood hard. LEAVES 20-31 per crown, porrect to spreading, held in shuttlecock arrangement, stiff, 3-4 m long, tending to be held on edge, marcescent, litter-accumulating at base, with aerial roots penetrating the litter; sheath 45-50 cm long, open, rather undulate, bright green, glabrous or with scattered brown indument, with large lateral auricles to 2 m long (JD6738) running into the reins or scarcely auricled (JD6770), long-attenuate into glabrous green apparent petiole, to 80 cm long or absent, proximally 25 cm wide, distally 5.5 x 2.5 cm in diam., flat or slightly convex adaxially, with somewhat embedded scattered scales; rachis about 3.9 m long, in mid-leaf about 1.4 x 2.2 cm in diam., keeled, abaxially with scattered small red glands/scales; leaflets mostly regular, plane, stiff, ± porrect, 55-70 on each side of the rachis, bright green, the most proximal pendulous and in groups of 4, proximal 71-117 x 1-4.5 cm, median 65-88 x 2.7-5.6 cm (interval 3-6 cm), distal 28-66 x 2.2-2.8 cm, main veins 4 rather faint, next to a clear midrib, abaxially on the midrib with a few large (6-12 mm long) red-brown laciniate ramenta, and on the minor veins with scattered small red glands, apices attenuate and slightly bifid, the distal pair joined for 3-5 cm and with acute to dentate apices less than 1 cm wide. INFLORESCENCE inter-foliar, arching and then erect, 0.7-1.3 m long, branching to 2 orders at base, with arching rachillae; multiple inflorescence primordia once observed (JD6738); peduncle 50-120 cm long, 2.5-8 x 1.3-4 cm in diam., densely red-pubescent; prophyll 50-98 x 9-16 cm, borne at 8-10 cm above the base of the peduncle, bright pale green, tomentose when young, with scattered brown scales when older; peduncular bract 80-104 cm long, about 8 cm wide, apparently circumscissile, not or hardly beaked, with few scattered scales; non-tubular peduncular bracts at regular intervals, spirally inserted, the proximal 17-22 x 6.5-8 cm, the 4 to 5 subsequent ones 0.5-7 x 3-7 cm and varying from narrowly triangular to a small ridge; rachis about 90 cm long with 15-35 first order branches, these proximally 1.2-3 x 0.6-1.4 cm, with up to 7 second order branches; rachillae (9-) 20-43 cm long, 9-12 mm in diam. when fresh, as little as 6 mm in diam. when dried, glabrous or nearly so, with triads in pits, the young flowers green. STAMINATE FLOWERS with the sepals 2.8-3.8 x 2-3.3 mm, keeled, acute; petals in bud 2.8-5 x 2.6-3.8 mm, fleshy; stamens slightly biseriate (offset 0.3 mm) with the antesepalous filaments flatter and to 0.8 mm wide, and the antesepalous ones triangular in cross-section (to 1.2 mm wide), filaments 1-2 mm long (connate at the base for up to 0.5 mm), anthers 2.3-3.5 x 1-1.2 mm, dorsifixed, with parallel locules, latrorse; pistillode cylindrical, 2.3-3.5 x 0.4-1.2 mm. PISTILLATE FLOWERS with the sepals 5-6.5 x 4.5-7 mm; petals 6-8.5 x 7-9.5 mm; staminodes minute, 6 (no sign of ring), 0.3 mm high and flat; pistil at anthesis 11-18 x 6-10.5 mm, the trifid apex 2-3.5 mm high. FRUIT green when young, when mature yellowish brown, subglobose with pronounced terminal stigmatic boss, 24-25 x 18-19 mm; mesocarp fleshy, 1.5-2 mm thick; endocarp; fibrous, thick, adherent to the seed, forming a hard layer around it, with parallel, free fibers reaching to the apex of the style boss. SEED depressed globose, 10-11 x 12-15 mm with homogeneous endosperm and basal embryo. (J. Dransfield and H. Beentje. 1995)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.
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In the type there are rachillae which are proximally almost exclusively pistillate (a few triads intermixed), and distally exclusively staminate; other rachillae in the type are exclusively staminate from the very base. In JD6738 there are sometimes 2-3 inflorescence buds in a leaf axil, but only one seems to develop. We are uncertain about the protogyny or protandry of this species. Beentje 4472 has pistillate buds slightly larger than the staminate buds in the same triad, JD6390 with staminate buds of the same size as Beentje 4472 but almost non-existent pistillate buds; triads have been compared at the same distance above the base of the rachilla. (J. Dransfield and H. Beentje. 1995)/Palmweb. |
Culture
"Warm, sheltered and moist. This is one of the 'holy grail' palms everyone wants to get their hands on... rare and massively wide, exotic palm from Madagascar. There it grows in dense jungles and is known as a litter-trapping palm- wide-spread leaves that catch all the leaf litter from above (presumably for a reason?)... not a tall grower, but is SSOOO slow in cultivation that it's hard to know what its potential is. looks like it will take decades to form a trunk. Solitary pinnate palm." (Geoff Stein)
Comments and Curiosities
Uses: The leaves of this species are used for thatching and for other handicrafts, the palm-heart is edible and fruits have edible nuts. The seeds are also harvested for the international horticultural trade.
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Until 1986, M. madagascariensis was known only from very incomplete material preserved in the Paris Herbarium, material that gave little indication of its appearance and relationships. In Genera Palmarum, Masoala was included within the Arecoid palms in an uncertain position, but as the book went to press, new material was collected. We have now seen this remarkable palm in several localities, from the Marojejy Massif southwards to the Bay of Antongil. M. mada gascariensis is a squat but rather massive litter-trapping palm of the most humid forest. (J. Dransfield and H. Beentje. 1995)/Palmweb. Conservation: IUCN Red List - Critically Endangered C2a(i). This palm occurring between Mahavelona and Marojejy has a fairly large extent of occurrence (15,803 km²), but the known sites (six locations) are severely fragmented and locally restricted as the species is estimated to have an area of occupancy of less than 77 km². The primary vegetation at many of the sites is being destroyed by agricultural and logging activities. Based on this information, this species could be listed as Endangered, however, the population size is very small comprising only an estimated30 mature individuals. As a result, the species qualifies for listing as Critically Endangered based on the small population size. There appears to have been a genuine population reduction since the last assessment in 1998 which is probably the result of continuing habitat loss and direct exploitation. Urgent measure are required to reverse this decline. The threats to this species include habitat loss through clearance for shifting agriculture and logging. The species is also highly used for a variety of purposes - the leaves are used for thatching and weaving handicrafts, the fruits have nuts which are eaten, the palm-heart is also eaten, and seeds are harvested for the international trade. Some of these uses require the felling of trees and reduce the regeneration potential of the species. Rakotoarinivo, M. & Dransfield, J. 2012. |
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).
J. Dransfield & H. Beentje, The Palms of Madagascar. 1995. The Palms of Madagascar. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and The International Palm Society.
Many Special Thanks to Ed Vaile for his long hours of tireless editing and numerous contributions.