''Dictyosperma'' is a
monotypic genus of
flowering plant in the
palm family found in the
Mascarene Islands in the
Indian Ocean (
Mauritius,
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
and
Rodrigues
Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. Rodr ...
). The sole
species, ''Dictyosperma album'', is widely cultivated in the
tropics but has been farmed to near
extinction in its native habitat. It is commonly called princess palm or hurricane palm, the latter owing to its ability to withstand strong winds by easily shedding leaves.
[Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) ''An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms''. Portland: Timber Press. / ] It is closely related to, and resembles, palms in the genus ''
Archontophoenix
''Archontophoenix'' is a plant genus comprising six palm species that are native to New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia. They are tall, slender and unbranched. Relationships between ''Archontophoenix'' and the other genera of subt ...
''.
[ The genus is named from two Greek words meaning "net" and "seed" and the epithet is Latin for "white", the common color of the crownshaft at the top of the trunk.
]
Description
The ringed trunks are solitary at 15 cm in diameter with a slight bulge at the base, occasionally reaching up to 12 m in height. The crownshaft is over a meter tall, swollen at the base, and covered in white wax— which has given the palm its epithet ''album''— and small, matted brown hairs, producing a rounded leaf crown 4.5 m wide and 3 m tall. The 2.5 to 3 m 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 ...
are borne on short 30 cm petioles; the arching leaflets are pointed at the apice, from 60 – 90 cm, dark green in color, and emerge from the rachis in a single plane.
On flowering, they produce up to six inflorescences which ring the trunk below the crownshaft, branched to one order, with white to yellow flowers, which are male and female; both pistillate and staminate flowers have three sepals and three petal
Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...
s, the former being smaller than the latter. The ovoid fruit ripen to purple or black in color, containing one brown, ellipsoidal seed.
Three varieties are currently recognized:
* ''Dictyosperma album'' var. ''album'' (Bory) Scheff. - Mauritius, Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
* ''Dictyosperma album'' var. ''aureum'' Balf.f. in J.G.Baker - Rodrigues Island
* ''Dictyosperma album'' var. ''conjugatum'' H.E.Moore & J.Guého - 2 remaining specimens on Île Ronde of Mauritius (Characterised by shorter trunk and white leaf-scar)
Distribution and habitat
Living in the coastal forests of the Mascarenes, they experience warm temperatures, high humidity and regular rainfall.[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. / ]
''Asterolecanium dictyospermae''
'' Asterolecanium dictyospermae'' is a species of sap sucking scale insect found only on ÃŽle Ronde on the two remaining ''Dictyosperma album'' var. ''conjugatum'' specimens. It apparently evolved on ÃŽle Ronde and became restricted to feeding upon the island's endemic variety, and due to interbreeding (between varieties) on Mauritius itself which jeopardized reproductive potential, the scale insect increased in population as a result of stress upon the host, which then threatens the existence of both host and scale insect.
References
External links
''Dictyosperma images''
''Dictyosperma'' on NPGS/GRIN
*
GBIF Portal
Fairchild Guide to Palms: ''Dictyosperma''
Floridata site
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q16060603, from2=Q3141626
Endemic flora of the Mascarene Islands
Areceae
Monotypic Arecaceae genera