''Cyphokentia macrostachya'' is a species of palm endemic to
New Caledonia
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Description
The yellow, green or gray solitary trunks reach over 15 m in height at a 20 cm diameter, slightly bulging at the base. 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 ...
meet the trunk with a 1 m, slightly bulging
crownshaft covered in tomentum and scales, giving it a brown to gray to white color. The
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 ...
leaves extend from 60 cm petioles at a 3 m length, recurved and bright green in color. The leaflets are over a meter long, obliquely acute, with one fold along a prominent midrib.
The branched
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
grows beneath the leaf crown, circling the trunk, producing tiny branches of male and female flowers. The male
flowers
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
have three
sepals
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
, three
petals and six
stamens, with three petals, three sepals, and three
staminode
In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. ...
s in the females. The ovoid
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
ripen to a bright red color, containing one ellipsoidal
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
.
[Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) ''An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms''. Portland: Timber Press. / ]
Distribution and habitat
''Cyphokentia macrostachya'' grows in New Caledonian
rain forest, from
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
to 900 m in elevation in free draining,
schistose
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...
soil. They are not tolerant of frost and usually grow in filtered light or shade until they reach the canopy top in their later life.
[Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) ''Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore''. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. / ]
References
External links
''Cyphokentia'' on NPGS/GRINGBIF PortalFairchild Guide to Palms: ''Cyphokentia''Kew Plant ListIPNI Listing
Clinospermatinae
Endemic flora of New Caledonia
Taxa named by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart
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