Latania
Latania | |
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Red latan palm | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Arecales |
Family: | Arecaceae |
Tribe: | Borasseae |
Genus: | Latania Comm. ex Juss. |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Latania, commonly known as latan palm or latania palm, is a genus of flowering plant in the palm tree family, native to the Mascarene Islands in the western Indian Ocean.[1][2]
The genus contains three species, one from each of the three major islands (including islets) in the chain. All species have been ranked as Endangered by the IUCN.[3]
- Latania loddigesii Mart. - (blue latan palm, latanier de l'Ile Ronde) from Mauritius
- Latania lontaroides (Gaertn.) H.E.Moore - (red latan palm, latanier de la Réunion) from Réunion
- Latania verschaffeltii Lem. - (yellow latan palm, latanier de Rodrigues) from Rodrigues Island
Latan palms are large, single-stemmed fan palms with separate male and female plants (dioecy); when the leaves fall, they leave scars on the trunks. Male flowers are small, in clusters, and emerge from within leathery bracts on the catkin-like inflorescences. Female flowers are larger, solitary and not concealed within bracts. The fruits contain 1-3 pyrenes, which are seeds enclosed within woody endocarps.[4] The endocarps have sculpted surfaces and the three species are readily distinguished from their pyrenes.[5]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Latania_Pyrenes.jpg)
Gallery
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Latania lontaroides
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Latania verschaffeltii
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Latania loddigesii
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Fruits of Latania loddigesii
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Female flowers of Latania loddigesii
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Male flowers of Latania loddigesii
References
- ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ^ Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- ^ "Latania conservation status". www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
- ^ Dransfield, John; Uhl, Natalie W.; Asmussen, Conny B.; Baker, William J.; Harley, Madeline M.; Lewis, Carl E. (2008). Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 978-1842461822.
- ^ Bayton, Ross P. Borassus L. and the borassoid palms - systematics and evolution (PhD Thesis). University of Reading.
External links
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