''Saribus rotundifolius'', also known as the footstool palm, is a common

fan palm 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 ...

found in

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 south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. It is a member of the genus ''

Saribus ''Saribus'' is a genus of palms (family Arecaceae), native to Southeast Asia, Papuasia and Pacific Islands. They are fan palms, the leaves with an armed petiole terminating in a rounded, costapalmate fan of numerous leaflets. '' Livistona'' is ...

''.

Common names

It is called ''anáhaw'' or ''luyong'' in Filipino. In Malay the palm is known as ''serdang daun bulat''.

Taxonomy

''Saribus rotundifolius'' was first described as ''Corypha rotundifolia'' by the French

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

in 1786. It was moved to the ''

'' genus by the German-Dutch botanist

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796, Braunschweig – 3 February 1862, Leiden) was a Germany, German-Netherlands, Dutch botanist. He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his ...

in a publication issued in 1838 or 1839. This move was generally not accepted by others in the field. In 2011, after DNA research, the reclassification from the '' Livistona'' genus to the resurrected genus ''Saribus'' was official. The

generic epithet 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 nomenclat ...

''Saribus'' comes from a local name in one of the Maluku languages, as recorded by the Dutch, ''sariboe''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

means 'round-leaved' in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

Description

''Saribus rotundifolius'' is a

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have ...

. The palm is

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

, erect, and only grows having a single trunk ('solitary'). It grows at a height ranging from 15 to 25 metres, exceptionally up to 45 metres tall, and thickness of 15 to 25 cm

diameter at breast height Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast ...

. Its trunk is smooth and straight with a shallow rings of leaf scars. The trunk is rather massive and tapering. It usually grows to tall, but may rarely reach tall. The young trees have a green crown. This species is seldom seen with a slight skirt of drooping, dead leaves. The sheaths are chestnut brown in colour. The

palmate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

ly-lobed leaves are spirally arranged around the trunk. The petioles are long. The entire leaf is some 1.2 metres in length. The leaf blade is

entire Entire may refer to: * Entire function, a function that is holomorphic on the whole complex plane * Entire (animal), an indication that an animal is not neutered * Entire (botany) This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of ...

in its centre, and almost round in outline. It is regularly divided to about half of the length and 1.2 metres in diameter. The leaf segments are forked, but not deeply, at their ends. The leaf segments have one main nerve. The flowers are borne on an

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 forme ...

with a long peduncle, about 0.9 to 1.2 metres long. The three-petalled flowers appear in bunches. The fruit is a fleshy

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel ...

. It is about 2cm in diameter, quite round, and coloured brick red as it ripens, ultimately becoming black when ripe.

Distribution

The palm is native to

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 ...

and 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 ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The native distribution stretches from

Banggi Island Banggi Island ( ms, Pulau Banggi) is located within the Kudat Division of Sabah in Malaysia. With an area of 440.7 square kilometres, it is the largest island in Malaysia followed by Bruit Island, Langkawi Island and Penang Island. It is locate ...

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

, off the north-east coastal tip of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

in the west, to the

Raja Ampat Islands Raja Ampat, or the ''Four Kings'', is an archipelago located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's Southwest Papua , Southwest Papua province. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and sh ...

near Maluku off the north-west tip of

Bird's Head Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

's West Papua province in the east. Its northernmost native distribution is in the Philippines. It is abundant throughout the Philippines. It has been introduced into the wild in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

, the Lesser Sunda islands,

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. It has also been introduced to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. On Java it occurs in the west and the central-eastern parts of the island. It is usually found as a cultivated plant, but already in the 1960s in some places it has escaped into the wild, becoming locally very numerous.

Ecology

The

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described speci ...

n caterpillars of the species '' Suastus gremius'' and ''

Elymnias hypermnestra ''Elymnias hypermnestra'', the common palmfly, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in South and Southeast Asia. Description As in some other species in the genus ''Elymnias'', the common palmfly has a precostal cell in the hindwings and a ...

'' have been recorded using ''Saribus rotundifolius'' as a

host plant In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' ( symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include ...

. The tree only flowers after it becomes very old. Its flowers are pollinated by bees.

Uses

''Saribus rotundifolius'' can be grown in humid, tropical areas. It is a common

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

plant in the Philippines, and has been widely cultivated in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, Java and elsewhere, for a long time. The fruit are quite attractive. It is cultivated as an ornamental throughout

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 ...

. The leaves are used for the

thatching 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 ...

of roofs and wrapping food.

Overharvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

of the leaves of plants causes a reduction in leaf size. The leaves do grow faster after harvest but tend to be smaller. The foliage of the ''Saribus rotundifolius'' is the unofficial national leaf of the

Gallery

Sulawesi_trsr_ph11.jpg, ''Saribus rotundifolius'' palm in the forest

understory 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 abo ...

in Tangkoko Nature Reserve,

Sulawesi trsr ph09.jpg, ''Saribus rotundifolius'' ''in situ'' in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi Saribus rotundifolius Livistona rotundifolia in the pot.jpg, ''Saribus rotundifolius'' in a pot Saribus rotundifolius Livistona rotundifolia spines on the petiole.jpg, Spines on margins of the petiole of a young plant of ''Saribus rotundifolius'' Saribus rotundifolius fruit (35044307905).jpg, ''Saribus rotundifolius'' developing fruit Livistona rotundifolia 3zz.jpg, Base of the trunk in

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an botanic garden with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including palms, cycads, flowering trees, and vines. It is located in the city of Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, just south of Miami, s ...

, Miami Livistona rotundifolia (4630490513).jpg, Trunk showing leaf scars in

Livistona rotundifolia 7zz.jpg, However, the trunk is covered in persistent leaf bases for a long time Saribus rotundifolius palm "burlap" (35003881756).jpg, The disintegrating frond bases on the trunk of the palm

Conservation

This plant species is common and has been classed as '

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17255322 Livistoninae Flora of Malesia Flora of New Guinea