''Dransfieldia'' is a monotypic

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 nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

family from western

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

where the lone species ''Dransfieldia micrantha'' grows in dense

rain forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

. Discovered in 1872, 134 years passed before DNA testing revealed its proper placement. With no close relatives, it is a delicate, pinnate-leaved palm named after

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 o ...

, former palm expert at the

Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

Description

The thin trunk is solitary, gray to maroon in color, with distinct, widely spaced leaf scar rings. The leaf sheaths are extended, forming a distinct green

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' ...

; the small rachis bears widely spaced, acute leaflets, slightly offset and taper to a point. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is borne beneath the crownshaft, protected by a caducous prohyll, once-branched, producing one-

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 ...

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 ...

with apical remains.Norup, Maria Vibe Dransfield, John Chase, Mark W. Barfod, Anders S. Fernando, Edwino S. and Baker, William J. Homoplasious character combinations and generic delimitation: a case study from the Indo-Pacific arecoid palms (2006) http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/93/7/1065

Taxonomy

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 abbrev ...

first collected the palm in Indonesian New Guinea in 1872 assigning it to the genus '' Ptychosperma'' under the epithet ''micranthum'',

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "small flower". The leaf tips were not jagged like most in the genus and, eleven years later, was moved to '' Rhopaloblaste'' by Sir Joseph Hooker, then director of the Kew gardens. The fit was imperfect as the male flowers and seedling eophylls in ''Rhopaloblaste'' did not match. In 1970, palm scientist

Harold E. Moore Harold Emery Moore, Jr. (July 7, 1917 – October 27, 1980) was an American botanist especially known for his work on the systematics of the palm family. He served as Director of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University, and was appoint ...

analyzed Beccari's collection, and despite bearing a crownshaft, reclassified it as a member of '' Heterospathe'', a non-crownshafted genus. Finally, in 2006, DNA tests revealed the plant matched no known genera; it was named for John Dransfield by his contemporaries to honor his long study of the family.Zona, Scott & Lewis, Carl

Distribution and habitat

They are restricted to western New Guinea rain forest

undergrowth Undergrowth usually refers to the vegetation in the lower part of a forest, which can obstruct passage through the forest. The height of undergrowth is usually considered to be 0.3 – 3 m (1 – 9 ft.). Undergrowth can also refer to all ...

, with high

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity dep ...

and frequent rainfall.

References

External links

''Dransfieldia'' on NPGS/GRIN

Fairchild Guide to Palms: ''Dransfieldia''

Fairchild images

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q13426956, from2=Q145117 Areceae Monotypic Arecaceae genera Endemic flora of New Guinea Taxa named by Odoardo Beccari