Palmae Roystonea oleracea (Jacq.) Cook

Palmae Roystonea oleracea

| | © C. Hughes

Other images of the same specimen :

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Keywords in this picture :

Habit
Vegetative
Plant parts

Places where this species can be found :

Grand Etang - GRENADA

Species information

Description
LArge palm, often with mound of many aerial or exposed roots at base. Basal leaves usually horizontal, 3-6m x 2m, drooping slightly at the tips. Crownshaft conspicuous, 2-5m long, swollen at base, bright green. Unfolding leaf bud conspicuous at apex of crown. Leaflets 10-100cm long x 5cm, often split into two at tip. Leaflets in two planes. This species is swollen at the base, then more or less cylindrical. R. regia, from Cuba, another cultivated 'Royal Palm' is more carrot shaped, broadened and swollen higher up. A Royal palm is on the National flag of Haiti

Interest
Roystonea - honour of General Roy Stone (1836-1905), American army engineer in Puerto Rico. One of the species commonly called Royal Palm. Roystonea regia, however. is a similar but taller species of 'Royal Palm' more widely cultivated in the world. The genus is from Central America and the Caribbean, 12 species, with intermeduiates. The trunks give out an aqueous sound when slapped. R. olearacea has lealfets in two ranks, in other species e.g. R. regia, in 4, with every 2nd or 3rd leaflet on each side points up and droops down again, making the leaves more 'bushy-tailed'. The fruits is a souce of oil. In some parts of the Caribbean, especially Cuba, Roystonea leafbases are used for thatch, and the trees for timber, livestock feed, palmito (palm cabbage or heart-of-palm, the terminal bud is edible.).

Specimen information

Collector
W.D. Hawthorne, C. Hughes

Specimen Number
141

Location
Fringes of Gran Etang Lake - palm swamp at W end of lake.

Notes
Palm to 20m ht and 40cm dbh. Leaf sheath to 3m long, leaf to 7-8m long, lfts approx 1m long and 6cm wide at base, the rachis 8cm wide at base, smooth. Inflorescence 1m long with 30cm long laterals, the base 15-20cm wide narrowing to 8cm where first laterals occur. No visible point of articulation/abscision on peduncle, the bracts at base of laterals 1 x 1cm, the basal laterals to 1m long with 60-100 laterals per inflorescence. Common in palm swamp with Ficus.

Coordinates
Latitude: 12.060000 N Longitude: 61.420000 W Altitude: 550