''Beccariophoenix'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of three

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

Arecaceae The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

(palms), native to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. The genus is closely related to the '' Cocos'', or coconut genus, and notably '' Beccariophoenix alfredii'' is similar in appearance to the coconut palm. It was named after

Odoardo Beccari Odoardo Beccari (16 November 1843 – 25 October 1920) was an Italian botanist famous for his discoveries in Indonesia, particularly New Guinea, and Australia. He has been called the greatest botanist to ever study Malesia. His author abbreviat ...

(1843-1920).

Description

Palms in this group have solitary trunks.

Crownshaft An elongated circumferential leaf base formation present on some species of palm is called a crownshaft. The leaf bases of some pinnate leaved palms (most notable being ''Roystonea regia'' or the royal palm but also including the genera ''Areca' ...

s are not present in the genus; the

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

, to 2–5 m long. The term "windowpane" palm comes from the leaflets on younger plants that are only partially divided from each other, where there appear to be 'windows' in the leaves between the leaflets. Older specimens do not display the windowpanes as the leaflets completely divide from each other. They are somewhat cold hardy, down to about -3 °C, making them a good look-alike for the coconut in cooler climates.

Species

The 'windows' palm was originally classified as a variant of ''B. madagascariensis'',Shapcott, A., Rakotoarinivo, M., Smith, R. J., Lysakova, G., Fay, M. F., & Dransfield, J. (2007). Can we bring Madagascar's critically endangered palms back from the brink? Genetics, ecology and conservation of the critically endangered palm ''Beccariophoenix madagascariensis''. ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' 154 (4): 589-60
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. but was given its own name in June 2014.

References

Cocoseae Arecaceae genera Endemic flora of Madagascar Trees of Madagascar Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Henri Lucien Jumelle Taxa named by Joseph Marie Henry Alfred Perrier de la Bâthie {{Cocoseae-stub