''Roystonea borinquena'', commonly called the Puerto Rico royal palm, (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''palma real puertorriqueña'') is a species of

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 ...

which is native to Hispaniola (in both the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

and Haiti),

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

Description

''Roystonea borinquena'' is a large palm which usually reaches a height of , but individuals have been recorded. Stems are smooth and grey-brown to cinnamon-brown, and range from in diameter. Leaves are long, with short petioles and leaf sheathes long which encircles the upper portion of the stem, forming a

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

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 ...

s bear creamy yellow male and female flowers; the anthers of the male flowers are bright purple. The fruit is single-seeded, about long and wide. The greenish-yellow immature fruit turn brownish-purple as they ripen.

Taxonomy

''Roystonea'' is placed in the subfamily Arecoideae and the

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 is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

Roystoneae. The placement of ''Roystonea'' within the Arecoideae is uncertain; a 2006

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...

based on plastid DNA failed to resolve the position of the genus within the Arecoideae. As of 2008, there appeared to be no molecular phylogenetic studies of ''Roystonea'' and the relationship between ''R. borinquena'' and the rest of the genus is uncertain. The species was first described by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

botanist Orator F. Cook in 1901. For most of the 19th century, only two species of royal palms were generally recognized: Greater Antillean royal palms were considered ''Oreodoxa regia'' (now ''

Roystonea regia ''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm that is native to Mexico, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and southern Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted ...

''), while Lesser Antillean ones were considered ''O. oleracea'' ('' R. oleracea''). Due to problems with the way that the genus ''Oreodoxa'' had been applied by taxonomists, Cook proposed that the name ''

Roystonea ''Roystonea'' is a genus of eleven species of monoecious palms, native to the Caribbean Islands, and the adjacent coasts of the United States (Florida), Central America and northern South America. Commonly known as the royal palms, the genus ...

'' (in honor of American general

Roy Stone Roy Stone (October 16, 1836 – August 5, 1905) was an American soldier, civil engineer, and inventor. He served in the American Civil War, distinguishing himself during the Battle of Gettysburg, and took part in the Spanish–American War. He ...

) in 1900 be applied to the royal palms. The following year Cook described ''Roystonea borinquena''.

Common names

''Roystonea borinquena'' is known as the "mountain-cabbage", "Puerto Rico royal palm" or simply "royal palm" in English, ''palmiste'' in Haiti, ''palma real puertorriqueña'', ''manacla'', ''palma caruta'', ''palma de cerdos'', ''palma de grana'', ''palma de yagua'', ''palma real'', ''yagua'' and other names in

and the

Reproduction and growth

Young ''Roystonea borinquena'' trees may begin flowering when they are about seven years old, and they flower throughout the year. The flowers of ''Roystonea borinquena'' produce nectar and are visited by

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

s; and are thought to be insect-pollinated. Flowering individuals bear an average of 3.2 inflorescences per tree, and produce 6–12,000 fruit per inflorescence. Seeds germinate after 50–100 days. After six months, seedlings in full sunlight can reach a height of ; young trees can grow an average of per year.

Distribution

''Roystonea borinquena'' is native to Hispaniola,

(including

Vieques Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, ...

) and

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

, St. John and

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

in the

. In Hispaniola, ''R. borinquena'' is found at elevations below above sea level, except in the driest regions. In Puerto Rico it is found in areas below above sea level, that receive of rainfall.

Ecology

''Roystonea borinquena'' fruit are a fat-rich food source for birds.

White-crowned pigeon The white-crowned pigeon (''Patagioenas leucocephala'') is a fruit and seed-eating species of bird in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. It is found primarily in the Caribbean. John James Audubon painted these pigeons, including the waterco ...

s (''Patagioenas leucocephala'') have been reported to disperse the seeds of the species. The Critically Endangered

Ridgway's hawk Ridgway's hawk (''Buteo ridgwayi'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae endemic to the island of Hispaniola (both Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in the Caribbean. It is classified as Critically Endangered because of habitat destructi ...

(''Buteo ridgwayi''), endemic to Hispaniola, favours ''R. borinquena'' when nesting.

Uses

Royal palms are popular

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

s due to their striking appearance; ''Roystonea borinquena'' is extensively planted as an ornamental in Puerto Rico. Its tolerance of

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...

, its ability to grow in a variety of soil types, and the fact that it roots do not damage sidewalks, increase its utility for landscaping and street planting. Its timber is occasionally used for construction but is susceptible to termite attack. Leaves are used as

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

and the leaf sheaths can be laid flat and used to make the sides of buildings. The fruit are also fed to

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

s and other

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q151210 borinquena Trees of the Caribbean Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN