Plant descriptions ²

Solitary small or dwarf palm (Schatz et al. 1694 is described as colony-forming, to 1.5 m; Perrier 12026 and 15985 are said to be clustering). STEM 0.2-1 m high, 4-9 mm diam.; internodes 0.5-3 cm, dark green, often with a vertical pale green stripe; nodal scars 0.1-0.2 cm. LEA V E S 4-10 in the crown, porrect to spreading; sheath 3-8 cm long, the outermost often open for c. 50 %, pale green with minute brown or reddish scales, in young leaves with clear triangular ligules 3-6 mm long on each side of the petiole; petiole absent or to 5 cm long, 1.5- 2.5 mm diam., slightly channelled adaxially; lamina entire or with (2-) 3-5 (-7) pairs of flat leaflets, shiny medium green, slightly paler on the abaxial surface, young leaves reddish; when entire shortly bifid, 14-32 cm long, the midrib 10-22 cm long, the lobes 5-12 x 2-5 cm, with 10-16 main veins, the base peduncle, 2.5-4 mm wide, opening only at the apex, pale brown cuneate, the apices truncate and dentate, 5-15 mm wide, and den with scattered scales; peduncular bract inserted at 4-14 from the base tate on the outside bend, with lines of small reddish and whitish of the peduncle, 3-9 cm long, 2.5-4 mm wide, opening only near scales on the abaxial midrib and veins; when pinnately divided the the apex, pale brown with scattered scales; second peduncular rachis 9-24 cm long with scattered reddish scales, the individual bract often present as a tiny, 1.5-4 mm long, briefly tubular bract leaflets flat and at intervals of 1-4.5 cm, the proximal 4-16 (-21) x situated just above the apex of the first peduncular bract; rachilla 0.5-3 cm and connate for 2-6 cm, the median 8-21 x 0.5-3.5 cm and 2-14 cm long, 1-2 mm diam., yellow-green to pale yellow, glabrous connate for 0.5-8 cm, both the proximal and the median sigmoid, or with dense minute scales all over, with 20-50 distant superficial with acuminate apices and 1-6 main veins, the distal leaflets 5-14 triads; flowers yellow-green. STAMINATE FLOWERS with imbricate x 1.4-3 cm, connate for 2-6 cm, with 5-6 main veins and the sepals 0.7-1 (-1.8) x 0.6-1 mm, keeled, with membranous margins; apices dentate on the outside bend, all leaflets with small scales on receptacle to 0.8 mm high; petals valvate, 1-2 x 0.7-1.3 mm, ellip veins. INFLORESCENCE interfoliar, erect or spreading and then por- tic, acute, striate; stamens 6, biseriate, didymous, the filaments rect, unbranched (a single bifurcation seen once in Guillaumet 2161, connate for 0.2-0.4 mm, the antepetalous 0.2-0.5 (-0.8) mm long and Perrier 11998 and Humbert 6891), 9-38 cm long; peduncle 6-27 narrow, the antesepalous 0.2-0.3 mm and broad, anthers with cm long, 1-2 mm diam., with dense minute scales but glabrescent; divergent locules, basifixed, 0.3-0.4 (-0.9) x 0.25-0.4 (-0.5) mm (with prophyll 5-15 cm long, borne at 3-6 cm above the base of the 2 sterile anthers in Jacquemin H572J; looking atrophied in JD6774); pistillode 0.2-0.3 mm. PISTILLATE FLOWERS with sepals imbricate, 0.8-1.3 x 0.6-1.3 mm, concave, keeled, non-ciliolate; petals proximally imbricate and membranous, distally valvate and fleshy, 1.2-1.8 x 0.9-1.5 mm, concave, elliptic, acute, striate; once (in Schatz 1694, a single flower) with a second series of smaller petals inside the outer series, 1.2 mm long; staminodes 6, 0.2-0.4 mm high, from thin to broad and tooth-shaped; ovary 0.8-1.4 x 0.8-1.3 mm, with a low pyramidal stigmatic bump. FRUIT deep shiny red, ellipsoid with a slightly pointed apex, 10-15 x 5-9.5 mm; mesocarp c. 2 mm thick, fleshy; endocarp with 22-30 free longitudinal fibres. SEED 8.5-10 x 4-5.5 mm, the base pointed, the apex obtuse; endosperm homogeneous. EOPHYLL bifid.

Elevation ²

450 - 1 900 m.

Similar species ²

Syn. Dypsidium catatianum ; Neophloga catatiana ; Neophloga indivisa.

Reference ²

J. Dransfield & H. Beentje, The Palms of Madagascar. 1995

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Helene Ralimanana, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Helene Ralimanana
2. (c) Romer Rabarijaona, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• African Plants - a photo guide
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• World Flora Online

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