| Queen palm | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Genus: | Syagrus |
| Species: | S. romanzoffiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Syagrus romanzoffiana | |
| Synonyms[5][6] | |
| |
Syagrus romanzoffiana, thequeen palm,[7]cocos palm or Jerivá, is apalm native toSouth America, introduced throughout the world as a popular ornamental garden tree.S. romanzoffiana is a medium-sized palm, quickly reaching maturity at a height of up to 15 m (49 ft) tall, with pinnateleaves having as many as 494 pinnae (leaflets), although more typically around 300, each pinna being around 50 centimetres (18 in) in length and 3–5 centimetres (1–2 in) in width.
Named afterNikolay Rumyantsev (1754–1826), who wasRussia's Foreign Minister and Imperial Chancellor and notable patron of the Russian voyages of exploration. He sponsored thefirst Russian circumnavigation of the globe.
It was previously scientifically known asCocos plumosa, a name under which it became popular in thehorticultural trade in the early 20th century. In some areas of the world the plant is stillpopularly known as thecocos palm.
.jpg)
This palm was first scientifically described and validly published asCocos romanzoffiana in 1822 in Paris in a folio of illustrations made by the artistLouis Choris, with a description by the French-German poet and botanistAdelbert von Chamisso.[8] Both men had participated in the firstRussian scientific expedition around the world under command ofOtto von Kotzebue, and funded byNikolay Rumyantsev, during which they collected this plant in the hinterland ofSanta Catarina, Brazil in late 1815.
Meanwhile, in England, circa 1825,Loddiges nursery had imported seed of a palm from Brazil which they dubbedCocos plumosa in their catalogue, anomen nudum. The horticulturistJohn Claudius Loudon in 1830 listed this plant among 3 species of theCocosgenus then grown in Britain, and mentioned its possible identification asKarl von Martius'C. comosa.[9] One of Loddiges' seedlings found its way to the new palm stove built atKew Gardens in the 1840s, where it had grown to a height of 50–60 ft, and where botanists determined it to be another of von Martius' species;C. coronata. In 1859 this palm flowered and produced fruit for the first time, which made it clear that its previous identification was incorrect and thus the director of the garden,Joseph Dalton Hooker, 'reluctantly' published a valid description for Loddiges' nameC. plumosa in 1860.[10]C. plumosa became a popular ornamental plant around the world, and plants continued to be sold under this name as of 2000.[11]
From 1887 onwardsOdoardo Beccari published a review of the genusCocos. Under subgenusArecastrum he listed the taxaC. romanzoffiana of Santa Catarina,C. plumosa known only from cultivation from seedlings from the plant in Kew,C. australis of Argentina to Paraguay,C. datil of eastern Argentina and Uruguay,C. acrocomioides ofMato Grosso do Sul,C. acaulis ofPiauí,Goiás and recently collected from the mountains of Paraguay bordering Brazil, andC. geriba (syn.C. martiana) known as a variable species cultivated in gardens throughout Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul,Minas Gerais,Paraná,Rio de Janeiro) and the Mediterranean region. Beccari noted that many of the palms being offered in the catalogues under various species names were actuallyC. geriba.[12]
In 1912Alwin Berger reduced the taxonC. plumosa, hitherto still only known from thousands in cultivation around the world yet not known from the wild, to a variety ofC. romanzoffiana, asC. romanzoffiana var.plumosa.[13]
It was first moved from the genusCocos in 1891 byOtto Kuntze in hisRevisio Generum Plantarum, which was widely ignored, but in 1916 Beccari raisedArecastrum to a monotypic genus and synonymised all species in the former subgenus toA. romanzoffianum. By this time South American imports of palm seed were being sold across Europe under a plethora of names, according to Beccari often mislabelled but impossible to determine down to 'correct' geographical species, thus he interpreted the taxa to belong to a single extremely variable species. This interpretation was long followed. Beccari also consideredC. botryophora part of this species, an interpretation that is now partially rejected. Beccari recognised the following, now rejected, varieties:[14]
Beccari also reinstated Martius'Syagrus.[14]
Arecastrum was subsumed underSyagrus in 1968.
Agenetics study by Bee F. Gunn found thatS. romanzoffiana did not group with the other twoSyagrus species tested, but withLytocaryum weddellianum.[15] If this has merit, thenL. weddelianum, being the junior taxon, becomesArecastrum weddelianum.
_foto_06.JPG)
It occurs from eastern and centralParaguay and northernArgentina north to eastern and southernBrazil and northernUruguay.[5][6][16] It is quite common in its native range.[6]
In Brazil it occurs in the states of Bahia, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.[6] In Argentina it occurs in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chaco, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Mendoza,Misiones (El Dorado, Guaraní, Iguazú), Santa Fe, San Juan and San Luis.[2] In Uruguay it occurs in the departments of Maldonado, Montevideo, Rivera, Rocha, Salto, Tacuarembó and Treinta y Tres.[2] In Paraguay it occurs in the departments of Alto Paraná, Amambay, Caaguazú, Canindeyú, Central, Concepción, Cordillera, Guairá, Ñeembucú, Paraguarí and San Pedro.[2][17]
The queen palm is reportedly naturalized to some extent inFlorida,[11]Queensland, Australia,[18]Honduras, and the island ofMauritius.[19]
On Mauritius seedlings have been recorded from gardens in the now highly residential area 'Montagne Ory' near the village ofMoka from 1981–1984 to at least 1999.[19]
The government of theAustralian state of Queensland considers it a potential 'invasive plant', and discourages home-owners from planting it, but it is not prohibited or restricted, or a declared weed.[20][21] According to the 1989 Flora of Southeastern Queensland, it is naturalised in southern Queensland and theAtherton Tableland.[18]
It is not regarded as an invasive or naturalised inNew South Wales,[18][22] although numerous sightings of it have been recorded around Sydney and the coast, including in nature parks.[23] It has been classified as anoxious weed by one local council in New South Wales since at least 2010;[24] as of 2015 it is not prohibited or restricted in the state, but classified as a 'serious threat ... not widely distributed in the area in one local region.[25] It was possibly first identified as a potential environmental weed for the area in a book from 1998.[19] Sale is discouraged and the palms are being removed.
It is widely planted throughout much ofFlorida and other parts of the southernUnited States, although it is not yet widely established in the flora as of 2000.[11]
It can also be found in some parts of the Mediterranean basin.
It is a common tree in many habitats.[6]
Birds are recorded to eat the fruit pulp from fallen fruit include therufous-bellied thrush (Turdus rufiventris),[26] thebananaquit (Coereba flaveola),violaceous euphonia (Euphonia violacea),Brazilian tanager (Ramphocelus bresilius) andtropical parula (Parula pitiayumi).Azure jays (Cyanocorax caeruleus) feed on the fruit pulp both picked directly from the infructescence as well as from fallen fruit lying on the ground, usually swallowing the fruits whole or transporting them away from the tree.[27] The two toucansRamphastos vitellinus[26][27] andR. dicolorus[26][27] pluck ripe fruits directly from the infructescence and regurgitate the seeds, the gamefowl chachalacaOrtalis guttata (or a closely related species, depending on one's taxonomic interpretation)[27] and the two related guanPenelope obscura[28] andP. superciliaris,[28] did so as well, but spread the seeds in their defecations and thus may be important dispersers.[27][28]
The squirrelGuerlinguetus brasiliensis ssp.ingrami is an important seed predator of this palm where the ranges of the two species overlap; breaking the nut open with its teeth at one of the three pores in the top of the nutshell. It preferentially targets bug-infested nuts.[29][30][31][32][33] A long term study into feeding behaviour of this squirrel in a secondaryAraucaria forest found that although in certain seasons other plants were consumed in larger quantities, the palm nuts were eaten in large quantities throughout the entire year and were thus the most important food item.[34]
Other important seed predators are seed-boring weevils andpalm bruchid beetles[35] of the genusPachymerus. Grubs ofP. bactris,P. cardo andP. nucleorum have all been found within the seed of this species (among many other species of related South American palms).[36] The large, colourful weevilRevena rubiginosa appears to be the main seed predator in numerous areas.[26][27][28] It is thought to probably be a specialist seed predator of this palm.[37] It infests the developing seeds before the fruits are ripe, while they are still attached to the infructescence, the grubs exiting the seed to pupate underground around the palm when the fruit fall.[26][27][37][38] Other weevils found to be seed predators of this palm areAnchylorhynchus aegrotus andA. variabilis,[38] but these species are also flower visitors and likely important specialized pollinators.[39]
The fruit are eaten bytapirs, which might be important seed dispersers,[35] and some wildcanids such as thepampas fox[40] and thecrab-eating fox.[27][41]
Three studies in Brazil, in four locations lacking other large frugivores such as squirrels, peccaries, deer and tapirs, found coati (Nasua nasua) to be important seed dispersers in such areas.[27][42][43] The coati climb into the palm to get at the fruit,[27] which in one urban study was found in 10% of all stool samples, although it constituted only 2.5% of the total faecal matter.[43] Other important dispersing mammals were agoutis (Dasyprocta azarae), which sometimes cache seeds.Black-eared opossum (Didelphis aurita) and a russet rice rat (Euryoryzomys russatus) were also found among the fallen fruits.[27]
The leaves of this palm are consumed by the caterpillars of the butterfliesBlepolenis batea in Uruguay in 1974,Brassolis astyra ssp.astyra,B. sophorae andCatoblepia amphirhoe inSanta Catarina in 1968, whileOpsiphanes invirae, the nominate form or possibly subspeciesremoliatus, was recorded feeding on this palm in both these regions.O. quiteria was also recorded feeding on the leaves in Argentina in 1969.[44]
Larvae of the giant day-flying mothPaysandisia archon are known to attack the piths of this palm species, along with many other species, at least in Europe, where neither the moth nor the palm are native. It can kill the palm. It prefers other genera of palm with more hairy trunks likeTrachycarpus,Trithrinax orChamaerops.[45][46]
The caterpillars of the Indonesian butterflyCephrenes augiades ssp.augiades and the AustralianC. trichopepla may also feed on the leaves of this palm.[47]
The bases of the pruned fronds remain on the tree for several months and could serve as a habitat for insects or snails.
The queen palm is planted in many tropical and subtropical areas.[11][48] It is popular as an ornamental tree and much used in urbanlandscaping. It is hardy, to -5 °C (zone 9a), but the dead fronds must be pruned to keep the tree visually pleasing.[49] In some areas the fallen fruit are known for attracting unwelcome insects.
The palm is often cut down in Brazil to use theleaves andinflorescences to provide animal (cattle)fodder, especially in times of drought.[50][51] The leaves are similarly used in Argentina.[52] Its fruits are edible and sometimes eaten;[50][52] consisting of a hard nut surrounded with a thin layer of fibrous flesh that is orange and sticky when ripe. The flavour is sweet and could be described as a mixture of plum and banana.
According to Blombery & Rodd [1982] people eat the unexpanded leaves of apical buds in some regions. Fallen fruits are fed to pigs, and palm trunks are often used in construction, frequently hollowed out to make water pipes or aqueducts for irrigation.[50] In 1920s Argentina, it was cultivated as a crop. The young buds are consumed as vegetables, pickled or preserved in oil. The trunk of the palm providessago.[52]
{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help){{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
Media related toSyagrus romanzoffiana at Wikimedia Commons