Syagrus cearensis Noblick (2004b: 70)

Noblick, Larry R., 2017, A revision of the genus Syagrus (Arecaceae), Phytotaxa 294 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

10. Syagrus cearensis Noblick (2004b: 70) . Type:— BRAZIL. Ceará: Municipio de Pacatuba, near Fortaleza , 29 km south, Serra de Aratanha , 12 August 1994, L.R. Noblick, A. Ferreira & V.B. de Souza 4951 (holotype EAC!, isotypes FTG!, IPA!, NY!)

Figures 14–15 plates, Figure 13 map.

A REVISION OF THE GENUS SYAGRUS

Phytotaxa 294 (1) © 2017 Magnolia Press • 41 Palm clustering with 2–4 stems growing in one plane to multi-stemmed clusters, occasionally solitary. Stem caulescent, to 4–10 m × 10–18 cm, internodes 9–16 cm long at the base, shortening to 2–7 cm long towards the apex, producing a rough trunk with slightly stepped nodes. Leaves 10–15, leaf sheath plus the petiole ca. 75–115 cm long; sheathing leaf base 18 or more cm long, ca. 18 cm wide at the base, fibrous with papery membrane

42 • Phytotaxa 294 (1) © 2017 Magnolia Press

NOBLICK disintegrating between the fine principal warf fibers that persist along the margins of the pseudopetiole, pseudopetiole ca. 40–100 cm long; petiole 0–2 × 4 cm, 2 cm thick; rachis 2.3–3.2 m long, a fine light brown to grayish indument covers the abaxial side of the sheath, continuing up the abaxial side of the petiole, sometimes onto the lower portion of the leaf rachis, the upper parts of the leaf rachis become glabrous with age; leaflets medium green becoming lighter when dried, concolorous, adaxial surface with prominently raised transverse veins when dried, leaflets ca. 100–130 along one side, irregularly distributed in loose clusters of 2–5, inserted in divergent planes, no ramenta scales or tomentum present where the leaflets are inserted on the rachis, and none along the abaxial midvein; basal leaflets 80–95 × 2–2.5 cm, middle leaflets 68–100 × 3–4 cm, apical leaflets 31 × 0.4 cm, usually one lobe of the asymmetric tip attenuate, the other rounded, occasionally both rounded. Inflorescence spirally branched; prophyll ca. 30–45 cm long; peduncular bract ca. 102–115 cm long or more, expanded portion 50–74 × 13–16 cm, including a beak of 4–11 cm, 14–26 cm perimeter, 1–3 mm thickness, woody, sulcate, exterior covered with a thin indument; inflorescence axis 45–85 cm, peduncle ca. 40–80 × 2.5–3 cm, 1.5– 2.5 cm thick, elliptical in cross-section, with a sparse lepidote indument; rachis 33–60 cm long; rachillae 35–45, glabrous, 30–50(–106) cm at the base, 9–17 cm long at the apex, each rachilla, especially the lower ones, with a triangular rachis bract ca. 5 mm long; staminate flowers 12–21 × 5–7 mm, yellow, sepals (3–)5–6 × 0.5–1 mm, petals 12–20 × 4–5 mm with acute tips, nerves indistinct, stamens 6–8 mm long, anthers 4–6 mm long, filaments 2 mm long, pistillode less than 0.5 mm long; pistillate flowers oblong, pyramidal, 17–25 × 8–10 mm, usually slightly lepidote on the basal portion, sepals 14–25 × 7–10 mm, petals 11–14 × 6–8 mm, upper ½ of the petal length valvate, ca. 5–7 mm long, unnerved to slightly nerved, pistil 10 × 6 mm, lepidote indument on upper portion, glabrous on lower behind the staminodal ring, stigmas 2 mm long, staminodal ring ca. 3 mm high, 6-dentate. Fruit nearly globose, 3.5–4.0(–5) × 3–4 cm, light orange when mature, color often obscured by a thin dark brown indument or lepidote, epicarp less than 0.5 mm thick, mesocarp 7–10 mm thick, succulent and fibrous; endocarp ca. 4 × 2.3 cm, 3–5 mm thick; seed ellipsoid ca. 1.8 × 1.2 cm, with homogeneous endosperm, with a substantial central cavity ca. 6 mm in diameter. Germination remote-tubular.

Common name:— catolé, coco-catolé, coco-babão, babão (babão translates as mucus refers to the slimy juices of the mesocarp).

Etymology:— The epithet, cearensis , honors one of the states to which the palm is native, Ceará, Brazil.

Distribution and habitat:— Northeastern Brazil: Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Alagoas. This species grows at the base of the mountains or in pastures at an elevation of about 100–750 m above sea level. They are locally common in mountainous areas and seasonal forests on the hills and mountains along the Atlantic coast, as well as in the arboreal caatinga in the interior in areas of greater rainfall due to elevation (“brejos”).

Conservation:— This palm has an ample distribution. It produces an abundance of fruits and grows rapidly in disturbed areas. The mountainous areas and rocky soils where it grows are not agriculturally valuable sites, and so this palm is not under any immediate threat. It is also being cultivated widely in the U.S. It is sometimes taken from the wild for landscaping. Therefore, with ample populations and little threat, this palm is classified as least concern, LC.

Phenology:— Flowering and fruiting probably year around, but collected in flower and fruit during the months of July through September (spring months in Brazil).

Uses:— This palm has great ornamental potential. The character especially attractive about this palm is its tendency to grow as twins.

Notes:— This palm has an unusual propensity to form twins from a single seed. This may be the result of precocious branching, because some individuals continue to sprout additional basal stems forming a large cluster and two-seeded endocarps are unknown in this species. Some of the other distinct attributes of S. cearensis are: pale yellowish fruits that are flattened at their apex; fruit nearly as long as wide, evenly covered with a fine dark brown lepidote indument, presence of triangular rachis bracts; sepals of staminate flowers usually narrowly linear and strongly keeled; and a large seed cavity. Few species of Syagrus consistently possess a seed cavity. Other examples of rock-loving palms with hollow seed cavities are S. lorenzoniorum and S. picrophylla . This palm was misidentified on several occasions as Syagrus oleracea by Glassman (1965, 1968c, 1987). However, it is easily distinguished not only by its twining or clustering habit, but also by its smaller (4–5 vs. to 7 cm), brown lepidote-covered fruits with a somewhat flattened rather than rounded apex with endosperm containing a distinctive hollow cavity.

A REVISION OF THE GENUS SYAGRUS

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NOBLICK A REVISION OF THE GENUS SYAGRUS

Phytotaxa 294 (1) © 2017 Magnolia Press • 45

Representative specimens:— BRAZIL. Alagoas: União dos Palmares , 19 November 1985, R.P. de Lyra-Lemos & A. I. L. Pinhero 1049, 1050 ( MAC!, PEUFR!) ; São José da Lage , near AL-110, 17 October 1986, R.P. de Lyra-Lemos & G.L. Esteves 1240 ( PEUFR!) ; Ceará: 1929, B.E. Dahlgren s.n. (F-613592!); 1940, B.E. Dahlgren s.n. (F 613724!); Araçoiaba, Olho d’Agua , 8 km N of Araçoiaba, –4.25, –39.00, 13 August 1994, L.R. Noblick et al. 4953 ( EAC!, FTG!, IPA!, TEPB!) ; Forteleza region , near Mejecana, 1935, B.E. Dahlgren s.n. (F-620753a!); Maranguape, 1940 B.E. Dahlgren s.n. (F-619724!); Maranguape, Serra da Pacatuba (close to Forteleza), top and bottom of the Serra, 1993 Luiz Antonio F. Matthes s.n. ( FTG! FTG 67903 ) ; Pacoti , localidade de Monte Claro, – 4.21, –38.92, 13 July 1984, J.L. de S. Lima 093 ( HTSA!) ; Palmácia , –4.25, –39.42, 22 October 1985, J.L. de S. Lima 63a ( HTSA!) ; Quebrangulo, Reserva Biológica da Pedra Talhada , localité de Quebrangulo, 790, –9.23, – 36.44, 4 March 3, 2013, Groupo Pedra Talhada 3756 ( JPB!) ; Quixadá, João Maurício, Serra do Estevão , –4.97, – 39.02, 28 April 1992, L.P. Felix , s.n. ( EAC!) ; Paraíba: 1935, Luetzelburg 26815 ( BH) ; Arauna , 570 m, –6.56, – 35.74, 29 November 2003, M.C. Pessoa 40 ( JPB) ; Conde , 22 km N of Goiana, Pernambuco on BR-101, 14 km N of the Paraíba / Pernambuco state border, –7.38, –34.96, 1 July 1997, L.R. Noblick & J. T. de Medeiros-Costa 5132 ( IPA!) ; Mamanguape , –6.84, –35.13, 1 January 1900, L.P. Felix 2634 ( JPB) ; Mamanguape, Camaratuba , –7.25, – 35.20, 22 November 1984, J.L. de S. Lima 76 ( HTSA) ; Monteiro, Sítio Olho Daguinha, Serra do Peru , no caminho para o Alto da Serra , 23 April 2011, J.A. Siqueira Filho 2502 ( HVASF) ; Santa Rita , 20 August 1962, S. Tavares 960 ( HST) ; Pernambuco: Cabrobó, Distrito de Umãs , 3 December 2008, Ferraz 68 ( HVASF) ; Cabrobó, Topo da Serra do Livramento , 10 July 2009, M. Oliveira 4350 ( HVASF) ; Condado, Eng. Vargem Grande , 21 August 1966, Andrade-Lima 66-4723 ( IPA!) ; Goiana , 11 November 1966, J.T. Medeiros-Costa 66-0009 ( IPA!) ; Lagoa de São José , 5 km N of the city, ca. 11 km N of the Pernambuco / Alagoas state line. –9.27, –36.70, 500–600 m, 21 September 1994, L.R. Noblick et al. 4981 ( FTG!, IPA!) ; Neves, 2 km W of Neves, 1969, S.F. Glassman & J.T. Medeiros-Costa 8706 (F!); Paudalho, without date, J.T. Medeiros-Costa 69/126 (U); Pombos , BR-232, 5 November 1966, J.T. Medeiros-Costa 66-0003 ( IPA!) ; Pombos, 1969, S.F. Glassman & J.T. Medeiros-Costa 8701 (F!); Triunfo , 27 March 1970, J.T. Medeiros-Costa 0133 ( IPA!) ; Tapera , December 1926, D.B. Pickel 1208 ( IPA!) [det. as S. oleracea by Burret May 1928] ; Rio Grande do Norte: Almio Afonso, Sítio Serra de São Miguel , 500 m, –6.21, –37.76, 5 September 1993, E. Sobrinho 94 ( MOSS) ; Luís Gomes, estrada para Tigre de Cima, na margem do rio, próximo á ponte da Baixa do Almeida , –6.40, –38.41, 28 August 2008, Oliveira 2247 ( MOSS) ; Maxaranguape, Comunidade Caraúbas , acesso pela BR 101 e RN 160, 25 m, –5.47, –35.30, 6 August 2010, D.F. Torres 209 ( UFRN) ; São Bento, Morro do Cruzeiro , ca. 1 km da cidade, –6.42, –35.70, 24 August 2012, Jardim 6381 ( UFRN) .

Figures

FIGURE 13. Distribution maps of Syagrus cataphracta, S. cearensis, S. cerqueirana, S. cocoides and S. comosa.

FIGURE 14. Syagrus cearensis. A. Habit. B. Section of leaf rachis showing inserted leaflets. C. Leaf. D. Inflorescence. E. Primary branch. F. Basal portion of primary branch showing staminate flowers with pedicels alongside the larger pistillate flowers. G. Receptive pistillate flower. H. Staminate flower showing the narrowly lanceolate sepals. I. Fruit covered with lepidote tomentum and flat apex. J. Cross-section of mature fruit showing a distinct central seed cavity. Habit, leaf and fruit drawn from MBC accession number 94654*E and inflorescence and flowers drawn fresh from 94654*Q. Drawn by Wes Jurgens.

FIGURE 15. Syagrus cearensis. A. Habit near Pacatuba, Ceará, Brazil (Noblick et al. 5951). B. Twin habit at MBC. C. Stem. D. Palms occasionally form four stems or more. E. Inflorescence. F. White staminate flowers with a few opening and with green unreceptive pistillate flowers. G. Receptive pistillate flowers. H. Mature fruits. Note flattish lepidote covered apex.