Daemonorops ocreata A.J.Hend. & N.Q.Dung, 2010

Henderson, Andrew & Dung, Nguyen Quoc, 2010, Notes on rattans (Arecaceae) from Vietnam, Phytotaxa 8, pp. 25-33 : 29

Daemonorops ocreata A.J.Hend. & N.Q.Dung , sp. nov. ( Plate 2 )

A speciebus aliis Daemonorops ocreis prominentibus et pinnis sin setosis differt.

Type:— VIETNAM. Khanh Hoa Province: Khanh Vinh District, Khanh Trung Commune , Suoi Ca Village , 400 m, 21 May 2007, N. Q . Dung 2006 (holotype: FIPI!, isotype: NY!) .

Stems clustered, climbing, to 12 m long, 3.2 cm diam. with sheaths. Leaf sheaths closed, brown with early deciduous whitish tomentum, densely covered with yellowish–brown spines to 6.5 cm long, interspersed with many smaller spines; ocreas to 10 cm long, brown, with fewer spines, these distally only; knees present, obscured by spines; petioles to 60 cm long, spiny on all sides; rachis to 190 cm long, with scattered, recurved spines abaxially; cirri present, to 70 cm long; pinnae ca. 34 per side of rachis, the middle ones to 44 cm long, 2.5 cm wide at the middle, linear, regularly arranged, spreading in the same plane, bristly along the margins. Staminate inflorescences to 55 cm long, erect, branched to 2 orders, with 7 partial inflorescences; prophylls to 18 cm long, covered with rows of yellowish spines; partial inflorescence bracts tubular, without spines, splitting laterally and falling; rachillae 3–5 per partial inflorescence, 2–4 cm long; staminate flowers not seen; pistillate inflorescences ca. 30 cm long, erect, branched to 3 orders, with 5–6 partial inflorescences; prophylls to 17 cm long, covered with rows of yellowish spines; partial inflorescence bracts tubular, splitting laterally, not spiny; rachillae 1–3 per partial inflorescence, 1.5–2.5 cm long, subtended by shallowly cupular bracts with 3–4 mm long apiculate margins; pistillate flowers not seen; fruits globose, yellowish, ca. 1.7 cm diam., the scales deeply channeled; endosperm ruminate.

Distribution and habitat: —Endemic to southern Vietnam in Khanh Hoa Province, in primary evergreen forest at 400–500 m elevation.

Local names and uses:— may gia. The stems are collected and reported to be of the same, medium quality as Daemonorops poilanei .

Discussion: — Daemonorops ocreata (named for its conspicuous ocreas) also belongs to section Piptospatha of Daemonorops . It differs from D. fissilis in its much larger size; from D. nuichuaensis in its climbing habit; from D. mollispina in its conspicuous ocreas, lack of woolly indumentum on the leaf sheath spines, lack of bristles on the adaxial pinnae surfaces, and lack of conspicuous bracts subtending the pistillate rachillae; and from D. poilanei in its conspicuous ocreas, lack of bristles on the adaxial pinnae surfaces, and short, straight pistillate rachillae.

Figures

PLATE 2. Left. Daemonorops brevicaulis—habit. Right. Daemonorops ocreata—fruits.