Gaussia spirituana

taxobox
name = Gaussia spirituana
status = EN
status_system = IUCN2.3
status_ref = IUCN2007|assessors=Moya, C. |year=1998 |id=38572 |title= Gaussia spirituana |downloaded=November 16, 2007 ]
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Monocots
unranked_ordo = Commelinids
ordo = Arecales
familia = Arecaceae
genus = "Gaussia"
species = "G. spirituana"
binomial = "Gaussia spirituana"
binomial_authority = Moya & Leiva|

"Gaussia spirituana" is a palm which is endemic to the Sierra de Jatibonico in east-central Cuba.cite web |url=http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/wcsp/namedetail.do?accepted_id=88910&repSynonym_id=-9998&name_id=88910&status=true |title= "Gaussia spirituana"|accessdate=2006-12-08 |format= |work= Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]

"Gaussia spirituana" stems are whitish, up to 7 metres tall. Stems are 30-35 centimetres in diameter, swollen at the base and tapering upward. Trees have up to ten pinnately compound leaves. Fruit are orange-red, 1 cm in diameter.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 ]

The species is considered endangered based on the fact that only 150 individuals are known to exist, and they are fragmented into five subpopulations. They are also threatened by habitat destruction and non-native pathogens.

References