Syagrus lilliputiana (Barb.Rodr.) Beccari (1916: 467)

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

33. Syagrus lilliputiana (Barb.Rodr.) Beccari (1916: 467) . Cocos lilliputiana Barbosa Rodrigues (1900: 96). Type:— PARAGUAY. In campus ad ripam fluvium Capibary, E. Hassler 4458 (holotype G!)

Figure 48 plate, Figure 49 map.

Very short, solitary palm 30–40 cm tall. Stem 0.06 m × 2.5 cm or nearly absent, appearing acaulescent. Leaves 2– 8; leaves emerging in one semicircular leaflet fan when very young, but spiraled later, sheathing leaf base ca. 6–15 × 1.2–2.3 cm; pseudopetiole 3.5–9 cm long; petiole 2–8 × 0.5–0.9 cm, 0.2–0.5 cm thick; rachis 22–30 cm long; leaflets slightly lighter on the abaxial surface, lanceolate, dark-green, glabrous on both sides, with acute, symmetrical apex, 9–31 along one side, regularly spaced, inserted at various angles, giving the leaf a plumose appearance, no ramenta scales present where the leaflets are inserted on the rachis, nor along the abaxial midvein; basal leaflets 9–36(–50) × 0.2–0.7 cm, middle leaflets 30–37 × 0.8–1.5 cm, apical leaflets 12–38 × 0.2–0.6 cm with an asymmetric tip. Inflorescence erect, spirally branched; prophyll 7–14 × 0.8–1 cm; peduncular bract 12.4–12.8 cm long, expanded portion 5.9–7 × 1–1.3 cm, beak nearly absent, 1.7–2 cm perimeter, 0.9–2.5 mm thickness, narrow, woody, sulcate, exterior with scattered thin to dense indument; peduncle ca. 9–11.5 cm × 3 mm, white wooly tomentose; inflorescence axis 3.2–4.2 cm long; rachis 0.5–1.2 cm long; rachillae 2–9, glabrous, 3–4.5 cm long at both the apex and at the base; staminate flowers 6–8 mm long at the apex, 9–10 × 4 mm at the base, green to yellow, sepals ca. 1.5 × 1.0– 1.5 mm, glabrous, with obscure nerves, petals 6–7 mm long at the apex, ca. 9–10 × 3–4 mm at the base with acute tips, nerves indistinct, stamens 5–6 mm long, anthers 4–5 mm long, filaments 1.5– 2.0 mm long, pistillode 0.7–1.0 mm long; basal pistillate flowers pyramidal, yellow, glabrous, 6–8 × 4–6 mm, sepals 6–8 × 4–6 mm, petals 5–7 × 4 mm, glabrous, valvate tips 2/5 to ½ the length of the petals, ca. 2.0– 2.5 mm long, pistil 5–6 × 3 mm, glabrous, stigmas ca. 3 mm long, glabrous, staminodal ring ca. 1–1.5 mm high, 6-dentate. Fruit ovoid, 1.7–1.8 × 1.4–1.5 cm, yellowish green to brown when mature, covered with brownish tomentum, epicarp 1.5–1.6 × 1.2–1.3 cm and less than 1 mm thick, mesocarp thickness not measured, succulent and fibrous; endocarp not measured; seed more or less ellipsoid not measured, endosperm homogeneous. Germination remote-tubular.

Common name:— palmeirinha.

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Etymology:— The specific epithet, lilliputiana , refers to the tiny size of this palm and honors the country of Lilliput, a fictional island nation located in the Indian Ocean populated by people only one-twelfth the height of normal humans, from Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.

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Distribution and habitat:— Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, on the border with Paraguay, in open cerrados in sandy soils, where it is very rare. Rare also in Paraguay along the Serra do Amambay and Mbaracayú, which forms the boundary between Paraguay and Brazil. It can still be occasionally found in fragmented cerrado parcels, especially near Amambai, Coronel Sapucaia and Ponto Porã, Brazil, wherever the vegetation and especially the original soils have been left relatively undisturbed.

Conservation:— Even though this palm is rare, it is fortunately well-protected in Paraguay within the Mbaracayú Natural Forest Preserve in the Aguara Ñu cerrado region. Therefore it is under no threat within the preserve. It has been rarely seen along railroad right-of-ways and in a few scattered cerrado fragments, where its chances of survival are slim. It produces few fruits, the seeds do not germinate well, and young plants grow slowly, often in soils of high agricultural value. Only 3 locations, including the preserve, are known for this species. It is classified as endangered, EN B2ab(ii,iii,iv,v).

Phenology:— This species fruits in the spring and beginning of summer (October–January). Each infructescence produces 5–8 fruits, which are rapidly consumed by animals, making it difficult to obtain seeds from the wild. Seeds germinate with difficulty in 3–5 months.

Uses:— It has the potential for use in gardens, as much for its curiosity as for the beauty of its foliage.

Notes:— Once thought to be the smallest Syagrus ; it is an acaulescent palm with coriaceous leaves, the lowest of which tend to lay flat on the ground or parallel to it. It has been mistakenly synonymized with S. graminifolia ( Henderson et al. 1995) or with S. petraea ( Hahn 1990) , but its growth habit is distinctively different, as are its inflorescence structure and leaflet anatomy ( Noblick 2013a).

One might think that they are dealing with two different species. Examining figure 48, one can see that the palms in A and F–H, with its pinnate leaflets and the whitish indument on the peduncular bract, looks suspiciously different from the palms in B–E. The palms from B–E are from or near the original Paraguayan type locality. The B–E inflorescence, with its narrow, brownish bract, better matches Barbosa Rodrigues’s illustration ( Barbosa Rodrigues 1903) for Cocos lilliputiana (t. 69a), and yet the pinnate leaves of A, F–H are a better match for the same illustration and the holotype specimen (Hassler 4458) than are the leaves of B–E. The author and his colleagues have confirmed that the differences noted here are only a difference between juvenile forms (B–E) and more mature forms (A, F–H) of the same species. The stunted leaves of B–E maybe a result of more frequent fires, whereas A, F–H comes from a more protected area. Even Barbosa Rodrigues (1900) implied that burning and grazing did not allow these palms to grow to their full natural size in their natural habitat.

Representative specimens:— BRAZIL. Mato Grosso do Sul: Ponta Porã, na estrada para Antonio João, próximo ao posto Aquidabá 21 km de Ponta Porã, –22.37, –55.74, 10 August 2001, H. Lorenzi et al. 2805, ( HPL!) . PARAGUAY. Canindeyú: 9 August 1996, M. Jiménez 1354 ( BM, CTES!, MO, PY!); Canindeyú: closest town: Ygatimi, Mbaracayu Natural Forest Reserve , just E of Ygatimi, Aguara Ñu, 40 km E of the reserve headquarters, ca 260 m, –24.16, –55.27, 5 December 2002, L.R. Noblick et al. 5296 ( FTG!, PY!); Ygatimi , Mbaracayu Natural Forest Reserve , just E of Ygatimi, managed by the Fundacion Moises Bertoni, Aguara Ñu, ca. 40 km E of the reserve headquarters, ca. 230 m, –24.18, –55.27, 5 December 2002, L.R. Noblick et al. 5300 ( FTG!, PY!); Aguará Ñu, Mbaracayú Natural Reserve , –24.18, –55.28, 22 September 1999, E.M. Zardini 51072 (AS, MO, FTG!) ; Aguará Ñu, Mbaracayú Natural Reserve , –24.18, –55.28, 28 August 2000, E.M. Zardini 54938, 54939 ( FTG!) . Without a specific locality: 1905, E. Hassler 9519 (G!) .

Figures

FIGURE 48. Syagrus lilliputiana. A. Habit at Jardim Botânico Plantarum (JBP), from Ponte Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. B. Normal habit of young plant near Ygatimi, Canindeyú, Paraguay (Noblick et al. 5296). C. Habit near Antônio João, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. D. Infructescence. E. Emerging inflorescence. F. Infructescence on plant at JBP from Ponte Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul. G. Basal portion of leaves on more developed plants. H. Infructescence on an older, well developed plant at JBP.

FIGURE 49. Distribution maps of Syagrus lilliputiana, S. loefgrenii, S. longipedunculata, S. lorenzoniorum, S. macrocarpa, S. mendanhensis, S. menzeliana, S. microphylla and S. minor.