Livistona chinensis (Jacq.) R.Br. ex Mart.

Distribution

Elevation range: 0–1600 m a.s.l. Cultivated in Colombia. Colombian departments: Antioquia, Cundinamarca, Valle del Cauca.

Habit

Tree, Solitary palm.

Ecology

Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: artificial - terrestrial.

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution

Cultivada en Colombia; Alt. 0 - 1600 m.

Morphology General Habit

Árbol, palma solitaria

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular

palma abanico, palma abanico de la China

Vernacular

Chinese fan palm, Biro (Japanese). Okinawa, Iriomote and Aharen, and on Kyushu, Aoshima (Yoshida et al., 2000) and Shikoku (Horikawa, 1972; Suzuki, 1982). In Taiwan on Kisanto Is., and in China on Hainan Is. and formerly recorded in Guangdong Province but now apparently extinct there in the wild.

Distribution

Japan, China and Taiwan. In Japan, on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa, riomote and Aharen, and on Kyushu, Aoshima (Yoshida et al., 2000) and Shikoku (Horikawa, 1972; Suzuki, 1982). In Taiwan on Kisanto Is., and in China on Hainan Is. and formerly recorded in Guangdong Province but now apparently extinct there in the wild

General Description

Hermaphroditic palm. Trunk to 15 m tall, 20-30 cm dbh, leaf scars obscure, roughened and with remnant tissue, light coloured, internodes narrow, irregular, brown to grey with age, petiole stubs not persistent, longitudinal fissures prominent. Leaves 40-60 in a globose to ovoid crown; petiole slightly arching, to 180 cm long, ca 15 cm wide in the middle, adaxially flat or slightly ridged, surface glabrous; margins with single curved spines in the proximal one-half or less or sometimes absent, distal margins otherwise sharp and slightly winged; spines 2-20 mm long, subulate, green to black; leaf-base fibre not prominent, coarse, and disintegrating; lamina costapalmate, regularly segmented, subcircular to reniform, 120-200 cm long, 120-180 cm wide, light yellowish green on both surfaces, dull to glossy, nonwaxy; lamina divided for 45-55% of its length, with 50-90 segments, depth of apical cleft ca 13% of the segment length, apical lobes pendulous; lower segments 2-5 mm wide, filamentous, parallel veins 8-9 each side of midrib; transverse veins thinner than parallel veins; hastula ca 3 cm high. Inflorescence unbranched at the base, 100-120 cm long, not extending beyond the limit of the crown, slightly curving, branched to 3 orders; 6-7 partial inflorescences; rachillae 10-18 cm long, to 9 mm diameter, glabrous; peduncular bract(s) lacking; rachis bracts tomentose or scaly, loosely tubular, disintegrating into open chartaceous fibres with age, brown, apex acute. Flowers in clusters of 4-7, subglobose in bud, 2-2.5 mm long, white to yellowish; sepals imbricate, ca 1.5 mm long, rounded, margins hyaline, inner surface striate; petals triangular, apically pointed, fleshy, ca 2.2 mm long, ca 2 mm wide; filaments united at the base, free in the upper part, connective thickish, ca 0.5 mm long; anthers ca 0.5 mm long; style sharply tapered, ca the same height as the anthers. Fruit globose, subglobose, ellipsoid or pyriform,15-26 mm long, 9-18 mm wide, glossy blue-green to bright green; epicarp ceramic-like; suture line extends for full length of fruit, marked with lip-like structures; mesocarp ca 1.5 mm wide, fleshy, slightly oily, moderately fibrous, endocarp woody, ca 0.5 mm wide; pedicel 2-3 mm long. Seed globose, subglobose to ellipsoid, variously reniform in longitudinal section, ca 14 mm long, ca 10 mm wide; endosperm intruded by the testa to ca one-half to two-thirds through to form a cavity filled with brown crystalline tissue; embryo supra-lateral to lateral. Eophyll 7-ribbed.

Habitat

Coastal forests on various soils, often in sand, sometimes in dense mono-specific colonies, otherwise in small isolated colonies, 1-100 m alt. Flowers Feb-Apr; fruits Apr-Sept.

Conservation

Vulnerable.