''Beccariophoenix alfredii'', also known as the high plateau coconut palm, is a recently discovered

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

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 tr ...

(palms),

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

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 Afric ...

. It is in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial no ...

'' Beccariophoenix'', and is closely related to the genus '' Cocos''. ''Beccariophoenix alfredii'' is very similar in appearance to the coconut palm, although somewhat cold hardy, making it a good look-alike for the coconut in cooler climates.

Description

''Beccariophoenix alfredii'' grows up to in height with a trunk up to in diameter. The trunk is unarmed and bare, with closely ringed leaf scars. The crown holds 30–36 pinnate leaves, which reach lengths of . Each leaf holds approximately 120 pairs of leaflets. The leaflets are very slender and crowded at the base, and are either rigid or somewhat pendulous. Towards the base of the leaf, leaflets are about long and wide. Mid-leaf leaflets are at their largest, being about long and wide. At the tip of the leaf, leaflets become smaller again, being long and wide. Dead leaves are

marcescent Marcescence is the withering and persistence of plant organs that normally are shed, and is a term most commonly applied to plant leaves. The underlying physiological mechanism is that trees transfer water and sap from the roots to the leaves ...

in juvenile palms, but abscise (naturally fall off the tree) neatly in adults. The inflorescence is infrafoliar and surrounded by a long, leathery spathe, which curls up on itself after abscission (due to drying out). The inflorescence stalk is long and elliptic in cross-section. The

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

is very short, long and bearing about 30–50 crowded, spirally arranged rachillae. The fruit is oblate, and dark purplish-black at maturity.

Systematics and botanical history

''Beccariophoenix'' is placed in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Arecoideae and the tribe

Cocoseae Cocoseae is a tribe of cocosoid palms of the family 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 ...

. The species was first noted in 2002, when Alfred Razafindratsira noticed a picture of a ''Beccariophoenix'' species in photographs taken of the vegetation surrounding

Andrembesoa Andrembesoa is a town and commune in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Betafo, which is a part of Vakinankaratra Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 12,000 in 2001 commune census. Only primary schooli ...

(originally taken in search of a species of ''

Pachypodium ''Pachypodium'' is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Madagascar and Africa. It belongs to the family Apocynaceae. Genus characteristics All ''Pachypodium'' are succulent plants that exhibit, to varying degrees, the ...

'' in the rocky escarpments to the southwest of

Antsirabe Antsirabe () is the third largest city in Madagascar and the capital of the Vakinankaratra region, with a population of 265,018 in 2014. In Madagascar, Antsirabe is known for its relatively cool climate (like the rest of the central region), i ...

). Alfred found this odd, considering this area of Madagascar is far from the other localities of ''Beccariophoenix'' and is, furthermore, ecologically totally different from the east coast and littoral forests where the other ''Beccariophoenix'' species are known to occur. On a day in May 2004 an expedition was mounted into the High Plateau of Madagascar in order to confirm the existence of this species. On the fourth day of the expedition the new population of ''Beccariophoenix'' was found. This species is noted for having oblate (flattened spheroid) rather than ovoid fruit, infrafoliar inflorescence (rather than interfoliar), a peduncle not exceeding long (rather than one up to long), a thick leathery peduncular bract which rolls up on when itself when abscised (rather than a heavily lignified peduncular bract thick, which does not deform when abscised) and 15

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s (rather than 18–21). Due to these differences, ''Beccariophoenix alfredii'' was classified as a new species. ''B. alfredii'' was accepted by Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of 2010.

Habitat and distribution

''Beccariophoenix alfredii'' occurs in the High Plateau of Madagascar at approximately 20° S. The palm is found at an elevation of 1,050 m (3,440 ft) growing along the sandy riverbeds. The surrounding vegetation is mainly composed of various grasses, and the area sees occasional fires. Due to the environment that ''B. alfredii'' is subjected to, it is hardy against

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above- freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a ga ...

and cold, fire, drought, and full sun. The seeds of ''B. alfredii'' are an important food source for

lemurs Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...

, notably the black lemur, as the seeds ripen between the months of March and June, a time of relative scarcity of food in the area. Lemurs therefore play an important role in the seed dispersal in Madagascar. Indeed, germination trials found that seeds which passed through the gut of lemurs sprouted faster and in greater numbers than seeds not eaten by lemurs. Thus, it seems highly likely that lemurs are the main seed dispersers of ''B. madagascariensis'' and ''B. alfredii''.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
full text
.

Cultivation

Due to its overall hardiness, ''B. alfredii'' is a good candidate for cultivation in central and southern

Florida Florida is a U.S. state, state located in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia (U.S. state), Geo ...

, southern

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, south

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, southern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fo ...

and also locations such as

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountai ...

, Australia, and the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...

. It is best grown in

sandy loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

soils, but is suitable to many other soil types. It can be expected that after it is less new to cultivation, it may become extremely popular worldwide due to its coconut look-alike status, good growth rate, and cold hardiness. Although this may take time due to its slow growth rate.

References

External links

Palmpedia
A wiki based site dedicated to high quality images and information on palm trees. {{Taxonbar, from=Q150396 Cocoseae Endemic flora of Madagascar Trees of Madagascar Plants described in 2007 Flora of the Madagascar subhumid forests