Phoenix loureiroi

taxobox
name = "Phoenix loureiroi"
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Monocots
unranked_ordo = Commelinids
ordo = Arecales
familia = Arecaceae
genus = "Phoenix"
species = "P. loureiroi"
binomial = "Phoenix loureiroi"
binomial_authority = Kunth|

"Phoenix loureiroi" is a species of flowering plant in the palm family, indigenous to southern Asia, from the southern islands of the Philippines, India, southern Bhutan, Taiwan to Hong Kong.Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?103053 "Phoenix loureiroi"] ] It occurs in deciduous and evergreen forests and in clear terrain from sea level to 1,500 m altitude.Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) "An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms". Portland: Timber Press. ISBN-10: 0881925586 / ISBN-13: 978-0881925586 (pages 402-403)]

The species is named after João de Loureiro; it was originally written by Kunth as "loureirii", but this is an error to be corrected to "loureiroi" under the provisions of the ICBN.

Description

"P. loureiroi" contains solitary and clustering plants with trunks from 1-4 m high and 25 cm in width, usually covered in old leaf bases. The leaves vary to some degree but usually reach 2 m in length with leaflets wide at the base and sharply pointed apices. The leaflets emerge from the rachis at varying angles creating a stiff, plumose leaf. The fruit is a single-seeded drupe, bluish-black when ripe, produced on erect, yellow inflorescences, usually hidden within the leaf crown. The species is noted for its variability in different habitats.

There are two varieties, based on the presence or absence of sclerotic, tannin-filled cells along the midribs and margins of leaflets:
*"Phoenix loureiroi" var. "loureiroi".
*"Phoenix loureiroi" var. "pedunculata" (Griff.) Govaerts (syn. "P. loureiroi" var. "humilis" S.C.Barrow).

References