Laccospadix

Taxobox
color = lightgreen
name = "Laccospadix"


image_caption = "Laccospadix australasica", Herberton Range
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Arecales
familia = Arecaceae
subfamilia = Arecoideae
tribus = Areceae
genus = "Laccospadix"
genus_authority = H.Wendl. & DrudeH. A. Wendland and Drude Nachrichten von der Georg-Agustus-Universität 1875:59. 1875. Type: "L. australasica"]
species = "L. australasica"
binomial = "Laccospadix australasica"

"Laccospadix" is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family from Australia where it is commonly called Atherton palm or Queensland kentia. The two Greek words from which it is named translate to "reservoir" and "spadix".

Description

"Laccospadix australasica" may be solitary or clustering, in the former the trunks will grow to around 10 cm in width while clustering plants are closer to 5 cm wide. The trunks may be dark green to almost black at the base, lightening with age, and conspicuously ringed by leaf scars. Lone trunks will reach 7 m in height while the suckering varieties grow to 3.5 m. The leaves are pinnate, emerging erect with a slight arch, to 2 m on 1 m or less petioles; the petioles and rachises are usually covered in scales. The new foliage is often red to bronze, a feature more common in solitary individuals.Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) "An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms". Portland: Timber Press. ISBN-10: 0881925586 / ISBN-13: 978-0881925586]

The inflorescence is a long, unbranched spike, emerging within the leaf crown, to a meter long, carrying male and female flowers, both with three sepals and three longer petals. "Laccospadix" fruit is slightly ovoid, one-seeded and bright red, with a smooth epicarp and a thin fleshy mesocarp. Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) "Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore". Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN-10: ISBN-10: 0935868305 / ISBN-13: 978-0935868302]

Distribution and habitat

Found in Queensland, Australia from 800 - 1400 m in elevation in humid rain forest, they grow on mountains and plateau where they receive little light.

External links

* [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6433 "Laccospadix" on NPGS/GRIN]
* [http://palmguide.org/genus.php?family=arecaceae&genus=Laccospadix Fairchild Guide to Palms: "Laccospadix"]
* [http://data.gbif.org/species/14721853 GBIF portal]
* [http://www.plantsystematics.org/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Laccospadix&rank=genus Plantsystematics.org with images]
* [http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Laccospadix/australasica.html Photos at PACSOA]

References

reflist