Cryosophila
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''Cryosophila'' is a genus of medium-sized
fan palms Fan palm as a descriptive term can refer to any of several different kinds of palms (Arecaceae) in various genera with leaves that are palmately lobed (rather than pinnately compound). Most are members of the subfamily Coryphoideae, though a few ...
that range from central
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
to northern
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. Species in the genus can be readily distinguished from related genera by their distinctive downward-pointing spines on the stem, which are actually modified roots. They are known as the "root spine palms".


Description

''Cryosophila'' is a genus of medium-sized, single-stemmed (or rarely multi-stemmed) palms with fan-shaped (or palmate) leaves and spiny stems. The stems range in height from , with diameters between . Plants have between five and 35 leaves with elongated petioles. The leaves are often whitish-grey on the lower surface. The whitish flowers are bisexual with six
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 filame ...
s and three
carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
s. The fruit are white and smooth, with a single seed. ''Cryosophila'' is distinguished from related genera by its long, branched spines which are derived from modified roots. These downward-pointing spines cover the trunk, often quite densely. The genus is one of the few palms which use modified roots as spines, and its spines are unlike any others in morphology or appearance. The density of spines varies from less than 25 over a length of stem in some species to others where the entire stem is covered by a dense mass of spines.


Taxonomy

In the first edition of ''
Genera Palmarum ''Genera Palmarum'' is a botany reference book that gives a detailed overview of the systematic biology of the palm family ( Arecaceae). The first edition of ''Genera Palmarum'' was published in 1987. The second edition was published in 2008, with ...
'' (1987),
Natalie Uhl Natalie Whitford Uhl (1919–2017) was an American botanistIPNI: Natalie Whitf ...
and
John Dransfield John Dransfield (born 1945) is an honorary research fellow and former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom, as well as being an authority on the phylogenetic classification of palms. Dransfield has written or ...
placed the genus ''Cryosophila'' in
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 ...
Coryphoideae The Coryphoideae is one of five subfamilies in the palm family, Arecaceae. It contains all of the genera with palmate leaves, excepting ''Mauritia'', ''Mauritiella'' and ''Lepidocaryum,'' all of subfamily Calamoideae, tribe Lepidocaryeae, subtr ...
,
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
Corypheae Corypheae is a tribe of palm trees in the subfamily Coryphoideae. In previous classifications, tribe Corypheae included four subtribes: Coryphinae, Livistoninae, Thrinacinae and Sabalinae, but recent phylogenetic studies have led to the genera ...
and subtribe Thrinacinae Subsequent
phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
analyses showed that the
Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
and
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
members of Thrinacinae are not closely related. As a consequence, ''Cryosophila'' and related genera were places in their own tribe,
Cryosophileae Cryosophileae is a tribe of palms in the subfamily Coryphoideae. The tribe ranges from southern South America, through Central America, into Mexico and the Caribbean. It includes New World genera formerly included in the tribe Thrinacinae, wh ...
. Within this tribe, ''Cryosophila'' appears to be most closely related to the genus ''
Schippia ''Schippia concolor'', the mountain pimento or silver pimeto, is a medium-sized palm species that is native to Belize and Guatemala. Named for its discoverer, Australian botanist William A. Schipp, the species is threatened by habitat loss. It i ...
''.


History

The earliest botanical description of the species in the genus were made by
Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...
,
Aimé Bonpland Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland (; 22 August 1773 – 11 May 1858) was a French explorer and botanist who traveled with Alexander von Humboldt in Latin America from 1799 to 1804. He co-authored volumes of the scientific results of their ex ...
and
Carl Sigismund Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the Americas, American c ...
in 1816. They named two species, ''
Corypha ''Corypha'' (gebang palm, buri palm or talipot palm) is a genus of palms (family Arecaceae), native to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea and northeastern Australia (Cape York Peninsula, Queensland). They are fan palms (sub ...
nana'' and ''
Chamaerops ''Chamaerops'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae. The only currently fully accepted species is ''Chamaerops humilis'', variously called European fan palm or the Mediterranean dwarf palm. It is one of the most cold-hardy ...
mocini''. Although these species were placed in different genera (both of which are now considered to be restricted to the Old World), today they are both thought to represent the same species—''
Cryosophila nana ''Cryosophila nana'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Mexico. It is threatened by habitat loss. References nana Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Na ...
''. In 1838 or 1839
Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796, Braunschweig – 3 February 1862, Leiden) was a German-Dutch botanist. He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life wor ...
coined the name ''Cryosophila'' specifically for ''C. nana'', but did not actually publish the combination and it was only validated in 1887 with the publication of Blume's combination by Carl E. Salomon in 1887. German botanist
Hermann Wendland Hermann Wendland (October 11, 1825 in Herrenhausen – January 12, 1903 in Hanover) was a German botanist and gardener. He was a noted authority on the family Arecaceae (palms), on which he published a major monograph which formed the basis for t ...
established a new genus, ''Acanthorrhiza'', in 1869. He included two species in the genus, ''A. aculeata'', which he transferred from ''
Trithrinax ''Trithrinax'' is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Coryphoideae of the family Arecaceae. The name is derived from ancient Greek, where ''tri'' means three, and ''thrinax'' trident. It was named in 1837 by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Ma ...
'' where it had been placed by Danish botanist Frederik Michael Liebmann when he described it in 1853, and ''A. warscewiczii'', for which Wendland provided the first description. ''Acanthorrhiza aculeata'' was based on a specimen now considered to belong to ''C. nana'', but was defined in such a way that it also included another species, '' C. stauracantha''. It was not until 1935 that American botanist Harley Bartlett realised that ''A. aculeata'' was the same as the pair of species that had been described by Kunth. Both ''Corypha nana'' and ''Chamaerops mocini'' had been published at the same time in the same work, which meant that Bartlett had to designate a
basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...
, the "original" validly published name for the species. Bartlett chose the former, and went on to describe three new species. Paul H. Allen described two new species in 1953, bringing the total number of species to seven. Based on Randall J. Evans' doctoral dissertation, Henderson and colleagues recognised nine species in the genus, although they expressed the concern that the fragmentation of populations by
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
may have exaggerated the difference between remaining populations, leading to an overestimate in the number of species. In his 1995
monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
on the genus, Evans recognised 10 species and two subspecies.


Species

The genus consists of 10 known species * '' Cryosophila bartlettii'' R.J.Evans -
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
* '' Cryosophila cookii'' Bartlett -
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
* '' Cryosophila grayumii'' R.J.Evans - Costa Rica * '' Cryosophila guagara'' P.H.Allen - Costa Rica, Panama * '' Cryosophila kalbreyeri'' ( Dammer ex Burret) Dahlgren -
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, Panama * '' Cryosophila macrocarpa'' R.J.Evans - Chocó region of Colombia * ''
Cryosophila nana ''Cryosophila nana'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Mexico. It is threatened by habitat loss. References nana Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Na ...
'' Blume -
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
:
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...
,
Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...
,
Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
,
Colima Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and ...
,
Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...
,
Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
,
Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...
,
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...
* '' Cryosophila stauracantha'' Heynh. R.J.Evans -
Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
,
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
,
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
, Mexico: Chiapas,
Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...
,
Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...
,
Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...
* ''
Cryosophila warscewiczii ''Cryosophila warscewiczii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae, endemic to Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the Un ...
'' H.Wendl. Bartlett - Panama, Costa Rica,
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
, Honduras * ''
Cryosophila williamsii ''Cryosophila williamsii'', also known as Lago Yojoa palm or root-spine palm is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Honduras. It is threatened by habitat loss. Cryosophila williamsii is named in honor of pr ...
'' P.H.Allen - Honduras


Distribution and status

The genus ''Cryosophila'' ranges from central Mexico in the north to northern Colombia in the south. Several species in the genus are
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
, including ''
Cryosophila williamsii ''Cryosophila williamsii'', also known as Lago Yojoa palm or root-spine palm is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Honduras. It is threatened by habitat loss. Cryosophila williamsii is named in honor of pr ...
'' which is, according to the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
,
extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as known only by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due ...
. All species are palms of the forest
understorey In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...
, and nine of the ten species are found in lowland humid or wet forests. The tenth species, ''C. nana'', is a tree of
tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...
s.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q142347 Arecaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot