Attalea crassispatha

taxobox
name = "Attalea crassispatha"
status = CR
status_system = IUCN2.3
status_ref = IUCN2006|assessors=Johnson, D. |year=1988 |id=38198 |title= Attalea crassispatha |downloaded=February 23, 2007 ]
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Monocots
unranked_ordo = Commelinids
ordo = Arecales
familia = Arecaceae
genus = "Attalea"
species = "A. crassispatha"
binomial = "Attalea crassispatha"
binomial_authority = (Mart.) Burret
synonyms = "Maximiliana crassispatha" Mart. "Bornoa crassispatha" O.F.Cook (nomen nudum) "Cocos crassispatha" Mart. ex Moscoso "Orbignya crassispatha" (Mart.) Glassman|

"Attalea crassispatha" (Carossier, Carroussier, Côrossié, Petit coco, Kawosie, Ti kokocite journal | quotes = no | last = Henderson | first = Andrew | coauthors = Michael Balick | date = 1991 | title = Attalea crassispatha, a rare and endemic Haitian palm | journal = Brittonia | volume = 43 | issue = 3 | pages = 189–194 | url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0007-196X%28199107%2F09%2943%3A3%3C189%3AACARAE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L | format = JSTOR subscription required | accessdate = 2007-02-23 | doi = 10.2307/2807059 ] , Kowos, Kokowos, Kolowosh, Kowos etranjècite journal | quotes = no | last = Timyan | first = Joel C. | authorlink = | coauthors = Samuel F. Reep | date = 1994 | title = Conservation status of "Attalea crassispath" (Mart.) Burret, the rare and endemic oil palm of Haiti | journal = Biological Conservation | volume = 68 | issue =
pages = 11–18 | doi = 10.1016/0006-3207(94)90541-X ] ) is a palm endemic to southwest Haiti. It is considered a critically endangered species with an estimated population of 25 individuals in 1991. As a result of its small population size, "A. crassispatha" has been described as being one of the rarest palms in the Americas.cite book |last=Henderson |first=Andrew |authorlink= Andrew Henderson |coauthors=Gloria Galeano; Rodrigo Bernal|title=Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas |year=1995 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey| isbn= 0-691-08537-4 ] Efforts are underway to conserve the species by planting seedlings both in Haiti and elsewhere; in 1991 seeds were distributed to botanic gardens in 12 countries.

The species has a solitary stem, growing up to about 20 m (66 feet) tall with pinnately compound leaves. The fruit is reddish when ripe. The seeds are edible; the flavour is similar to that of coconut, but it is richer in fats and denser. The nuts are also a good source of cooking oil. The bract is used as a bowl for feeding pigs. The leaves are used for thatch and weaving, but only when the more common fan palms "Sabal causiarum" and "Coccothrinax argentea" are unavailable. It is also used as a source of lumber and as a boundary marker between farmers' fields due to its longevity and ability to survive hurricanes.

Very little natural vegetation survives in Haiti. "A. crassispatha" is found in three anthropogenic habitats - field gardens, courtyard gardens, and shrub forest. Field gardens are typically a mixture of annual crops which are farmed for a few years and then converted to pasture. Courtyard gardens are cultivated with perennial crops, usually on more fertile soils. Shrub forests are small patches of secondary forest, often on dry stony areas which are least suitable for agriculture. Timyan and Reep considered courtyard gardens to have the highest potential for survival and regeneration. At the other extreme, they found only one case of natural regeneration in a field garden.

"A. crassispatha" is the most isolated disjunct in the genus "Attalea". All the other species in the genus are Central or South American species; the only other species found in the insular Caribbean, "A. maripa" and "A. osmantha", are found in Trinidad and Tobago, at the extreme southern end of the Caribbean. Its small population size and extreme isolation from other members of the genus make "A. crassispatha" scientifically interesting.

Charles Plumier visited the island of Hispaniola in 1689 and published a description of the species in 1703. Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius used Plumier's notes and drawings to give the species a formal Linnaean description in 1884 placing it in the genus "Maximiliana". In 1929 Max Burret transferred the species to "Attalea". In 1939 O. F. Cook placed the species in a new genus, "Bornoa", named for Louis Borno, former President of Haiti. However, Cook did not validly publish it, making the name invalid. Liberty Hyde Bailey kept the species in the genus "Attalea". S. F. Glassman considered it close to the genus "Orbignya", but suggested that it may represent a new genus. Recent workcite web| url = http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/wcsp/home.do| title = World Checklist of Arecaceae| accessdate = 2007-02-06 | last = Govaerts| first = R.| authorlink = Rafaël Govaerts| coauthors = J. Henderson; S.F. Zona; D.R. Hodel; A. Henderson| date = 2006| publisher = The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew] has favoured maintaining all Attaleinae in a single genus, "Attalea".

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