Syagrus

taxobox
name = "Syagrus"


image_caption = "Syagrus yatay" in Parque Nacional El Palmar, Argentina
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Monocots
unranked_ordo = Commelinids
ordo = Arecales
familia = Arecaceae
subfamilia = Arecoideae
tribus = Cocoeae
genus = "Syagrus"
genus_authority = Mart.Martius, Palmarum Familia 18. 1824. Type "S. cocoides"]
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text|

"Syagrus" is a genus of 30 to 42 species of Arecaceae (palms), native to South America, with one species endemic to the Lesser Antilles. The genus is closely related to the "Cocos", or coconut genus, and many "Syagrus" species produce edible seeds similar to the coconut.

Description

Palms in this group have solitary trunks, clusters, and subterranean stems. Crownshafts are not present in the genus; inflorescences emerge from the leaf crown. Leaves are pinnate, often recurved, from 2 to 5 m. They are monoecious, producing white or off-white unisexual flowers of both sexes. The woody bract is spoon or boat-shaped.

;Species
*"Syagrus amara"
*"Syagrus bottryophora"
*"Syagrus coronata" - Licuri Palm
*"Syagrus romanzoffiana" - Queen Palm
*"Syagrus sancona"
*"Syagrus schizophylla" - Arikury Palm
*"Syagrus yatay" - Yatay Palm

Ecology

"S. coronata" and "S. yatay" nuts are (or were) the favored food of Lear's Macaw and the Glaucous Macaw, respectively, whose bill sizes and shapes were particularly adapted to crack them. The destruction of most of the Yatay Palm stands in the Paraná River area is considered a key factor in the extinction of the Glaucous Macaw (del Hoyo et al. 1997).

"Syagrus" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including "Batrachedra nuciferae" (recorded on "S. coronae"), "Hypercompe cunigunda" (feeds exclusively on "S. romanzoffiana") and "Paysandisia archon" (recorded on "S. romanzoffiana").

References

reflist
*Jones, D. L. (2000). "Palms in Australia". Reed Books.
*del Hoyo, J. et al., eds. (1997). "Handbook of the Birds of the World" 4: 419. Lynx Edicions.