''Hydriastele'' is a diverse and widespread

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 ...

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 found throughout northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

, and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. It consisted of just nine

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 ...

until 2004, when molecular research, supported by morphologic similarities, led taxonomists to include the members of the ''Gulubia'', ''Gronophyllum'', and ''Siphokentia'' genera. About 40 species are now recognized.

Description

The palms now classified in this genus have uniting traits but are nonetheless diverse. Pleonanthy, monoecy,

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, peduncular bracts, and the lack of armament characterize all members. The trunks may be solitary or suckering and may be diminutive to robust, spanning a range of heights. The leaves 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 ...

and widely varied. The

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 ...

s are branched to three orders with both male and female

flower 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 ...

s, some of which are

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

-pollinated.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. / The

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 ...

may be ellipsoidal or spherical and colored yellow, orange, red, purple, or black when ripe, each with a single

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 ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Hydriastele'' was first formally described in 1875 by

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 ...

and

Carl Georg Oscar Drude Carl Georg Oscar Drude (5 June 1852 in Braunschweig – 1 February 1933 in Dresden) was a German botanist. From 1870 he studied science and chemistry at the Collegium Carolinum in Braunschweig, relocating to the University of Göttingen the fol ...

in the journal ''

Linnaea ''Linnaea'' is a plant genus in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Until 2013, the genus included a single species, ''Linnaea borealis''. In 2013, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, the genus was expanded to include species f ...

'' and the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is ''

Hydriastele wendlandiana ''Hydriastele wendlandiana'', commonly known as Wendland's palm, cat o' nine tails, creek palm or kentia palm, is a tall, multi-stemmed tree in the palm family Arecaceae. It is native to New Guinea and the Australian states of Queensland and ...

''. The genus name is derived from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, combining " hydriad", a water nymph in mythology, and "column".Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) ''An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms''. Portland: Timber Press. /

Species list

The following is a list of ''Hydriastele'' species accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

as at December 2022: * '' Hydriastele apetiolata'' Petoe & W.J.Baker (

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

) * '' Hydriastele aprica'' ( B.E.Young) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele beguinii'' (

Burret Burret () is a commune in the Ariège department of southwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in t ...

) W.J.Baker & Loo ( Maluku) * '' Hydriastele biakensis'' W.J.Baker & Heatubun (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele bournae'' W.J.Baker & D.Watling (

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

) * '' Hydriastele calcicola'' W.J.Baker & Petoe (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele costata''

F.M.Bailey Frederick Manson Bailey (8 March 1827 – 25 June 1915) was a botanist active in Australia, who made valuable contributions to the characterisation of the flora of Queensland. He was known by his middle name, Manson. Early life Bailey was b ...

(

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

, New Guinea,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

) * '' Hydriastele cylindrocarpa'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands discovered by the Spaniards. They lie approximately 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

) * '' Hydriastele divaricata'' Heatubun, Petoe & W.J.Baker (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele dransfieldii'' (

Hambali Riduan Isamuddin also transliterated as Riduan Isamudin, Riduan Isomuddin, and Riduan Isomudin, better known by the ''nom de guerre'' Hambali, born as Encep Nurjaman (April 4, 1964) is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist orga ...

, Maturb., Wanggai & W.J.Baker) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele flabellata'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele gibbsiana'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele hombronii'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

) * '' Hydriastele kasesa'' (Lauterb.) Burret (Bismarck Archipelago) * '' Hydriastele kjellbergii'' (Burret) W.J.Baker & Loo (

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

) * '' Hydriastele lanata'' W.J.Baker & Petoe (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele ledermanniana'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele longispatha'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele lurida'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele macrospadix'' (Burret) W.J.Baker & Loo (Solomon Islands) * '' Hydriastele manusii'' ( Essig) W.J.Baker & Loo (Bismarck Archipelago) * '' Hydriastele microcarpa'' (Scheff.) W.J.Baker & Loo (Maluku Islands) * '' Hydriastele moluccana'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (Maluku Islands) * '' Hydriastele montana'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele nannostachys'' W.J.Baker & Loo (Sulawesi) * '' Hydriastele oxypetala'' Burret) W.J.Baker & Loo (Maluku Islands) * '' Hydriastele palauensis'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...

) * ''

Hydriastele pinangoides ''Hydriastele'' is a diverse and widespread genus of flowering plant in the arecaceae, palm family found throughout northern Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Southeast Asia. It consisted of just nine species until 2004, when molecular resea ...

'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele procera'' (Blume) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele ramsayi'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

) * '' Hydriastele rheophytica'' Dowe & M.D.Ferrero * '' Hydriastele sarasinorum'' (Burret) W.J.Baker & Loo (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele selebica'' (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo (Sulawesi) * '' Hydriastele simbiakii'' Heatubun, Petoe & W.J.Baker (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele splendida'' Heatubun, Petoe & W.J.Baker (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele variabilis'' (Becc.) Burret (New Guinea) * '' Hydriastele vitiensis'' W.J.Baker & Loo (Fiji) * ''

'' (F.Muell.) H.Wendl. &

Drude In German folklore, a drude (german: Drude, pl. ''Druden'') is a kind of malevolent nocturnal spirit (an elf ( Alp) or kobold or a hag) associated with nightmares, prevalent especially in Southern Germany. Druden were said to participate in th ...

(New Guinea, Northern Territory, Queensland) * '' Hydriastele wosimiensis'' W.J.Baker & Petoe (New Guinea)

Distribution and habitat

Their known natural range includes a number of tropical settings in

, the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

, the

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...

, and

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

. Very often they are found in

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 ...

s of the

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

and low lying varieties or upon

ultrabasic Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are compos ...

rock,

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

ridges and serpentine faces.

Cultivation and uses

Several of these palms are cultivated and typically require conditions resembling those of their range. The trunks of some species are used as wall and floorboard components in house construction or split and fashioned into

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

References

External links

''Hydriastele'' on NPGS/GRIN

GBIF portal

Fairchild Guide to Palms: ''Hydriastele''

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Notes

:The original website at palmguide.org has been usurped and its full content is no longer available. This link is an incomplete archive of the original. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2711792 Areceae Arecaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Georg Oscar Drude