A revision of Coccothrinax, Hemithrinax, Leucothrinax, Thrinax, and Zombia (Arecaceae)
Author
Henderson, Andrew
text
Phytotaxa
2023
2023-09-19
614
1
1
115
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.614.1.1
journal article
270518
10.11646/phytotaxa.614.1.1
143c8e81-3541-4298-b233-d3ce4e79d26c
1179-3163
8389307
1.19.
Coccothrinax hioramii
León (1939: 135)
.
Lectotype
(designated by
Moya 2020
):—
CUBA
.
Oriente
,
Caimanera
,
Guantánamo
,
31 March 1934
,
Fr. Hioram
16099
(
lectotype
HAC
!, isolectotypes
A
!,
AJBC
n.v.
,
BH
!,
MICH
n.v.
,
MICH
image!, US!).
Plate 14
Coccothrinax argentea
var.
guantanamensis
León (1939: 134)
.
Coccothrinax argentea
subsp.
guantanamensis
(León)
Borhidi & Muñiz (1971a: 176)
.
Coccothrinax guantanamensis
(León)
Muñiz & Borhidi (1981
publ. 1982: 449).
Lectotype
(designated by
Moya 2020
):—
CUBA
. Oriente, no lejos de la boca del río
Guantánamo
,
31 March 1934
,
Fr. Hioram 16100
(
lectotype
HAC!, isolectotypes A!, AJBC
n.v.
, GH!, BH!, NY!, MICH
n.v.
,
US
!).
Stems
length not recorded,
11.2 cm
diameter, solitary.
Leaves
more or less deciduous or only leaf bases persisting on stem; leaf sheath fibers 0.4(0.2–0.6) mm diameter, closely woven, not forming persistent ligules and soon disintegrating at the apices; petioles 12.0(7.8–17.5) mm diameter just below the apex; palmans 13.6(8.0–17.0) cm long, relatively long, without prominent adaxial veins; leaf blades not wedge-shaped; segments 45(39–50) per leaf, the middle ones 60.9(49.5–75.5) cm long and 2.4(2.0–2.9) cm wide; segments not pendulous at the apices, giving the leaf a flat appearance; middle leaf segments relatively long and narrow, tapering from base to apex, scarcely folded, flexible and not leathery, a shoulder or constriction absent or poorly developed, the apices thin, deeply splitting and breaking off; middle leaf segment apices attenuate; leaf segments not waxy or sometimes with a deciduous, thin layer of wax adaxially, indumentose abaxially, with irregularly shaped, semi-persistent, interlocking, fimbriate hairs without an obvious center, with poorly developed transverse veinlets.
Inflorescences
curving, arching, or pendulous amongst the leaves, with few partial inflorescences; rachis bracts somewhat flattened, loosely sheathing, usually tomentose with a dense tuft of erect hairs at the apex; partial inflorescences 5(4–6); proximalmost rachillae straight, 9.6(7.2–11.0) cm long and 1.3(0.7–1.9) mm diameter in fruit; rachillae glabrous at or near anthesis; stamens 10(9–11); fruit pedicels 1.5(0.7–2.4) mm long;
fruits
7.0(5.7–8.7) mm long and 7.3(6.4–9.3) mm diameter, dark purple, reddish-purple, or black; fruit surfaces smooth or sometimes with projecting fibers; seed surfaces deeply lobed, the lobes running from base of seeds almost to apices.
Distribution and habitat:—
Cuba
(
Guantánamo
) (
Fig. 13
) in savannas and hills at 65(30–100) m elevation.
PLATE 14
.
Coccothrinax hioramii
, Cuba, with middle leaf segments long and narrow, tapering from base to apex, scarcely folded, flexible and not leathery, a shoulder or constriction absent or poorly developed. (Image by Scott Zona).
Taxonomic notes:—
Two preliminary species (
C. guantanamensis
,
C. hioramii
) share a unique combination of character states and are recognized as a phylogenetic species, the earliest name for which is
C. hioramii
.
León
(1939)
distinguished
C. hioramii
from
C. guantanamensis
by its leaf segments striate abaxially only (
versus
striate on both surfaces), globose ovaries (
versus
ovoid-globose), and seeds split to one third their diameter (
versus
split to three quarters of their diameter). These differences are difficult to observe and are not considered to have any taxonomic significance. Specimens appear to have obscure transverse veinlets, as noted by
León
, indicating a relationship with
C. argentea
from Hispaniola (and
León
first described
C. guantanamensis
as a variety of
C. argentea
).
Subspecific variation
:—A specimen (
León
16768
) from the
Loma de la Canasta
in
Guantánamo
was determined by
León
as
C. hioramii
, but has larger leaves and inflorescences than other specimens and is outside their range. The label of
one specimen
(
Zona 849
) states “stems slightly ventricose or fusiform”. The label of another specimen (
Loomis 96
) states “the trunks of some are thicker for
10–12 ft.
at the base and then narrow rather suddenly thus forming a slender bottle-like trunk which may be
6 inches
diameter at the thickest part and 2 to 2½ inches above at the thinnest part. Only young palms retain the old leaf bases”.