Ceroxylon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Italic title". Template:Automatic taxobox

Ceroxylon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae, native to the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, known as Andean wax palms.[1][2][3]

The species are almost exclusively montane and include the tallest palm (and thus tallest monocotyledon), C. quindiuense, which reaches Script error: No such module "convert". in height, and species growing at the highest altitude of the palm family (Arecaceae), at more than Script error: No such module "convert". in elevation.

The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Grc-tr ("wax") and Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Grc-tr, "wood").

Taxonomy

Ceroxylon is most closely related to the genus Oraniopsis, which is restricted to northern Australia. The common ancestor of both genera likely dispersed across the Antarctic land bridge during the Late Eocene.[4]

Description

Ceroxylon palms develop single, smooth, wax-covered, often whitish cylindrical trunks encircled by ringed leafbase scars. Ceroxylon species are dioecious (the individual plant produces flowers of only one sex). Leaves are pinnate. Inflorescences emerge from among, and often project conspicuously beyond the leaves. Round fruits, up to one inch in diameter, are red or orange at maturity. Many Ceroxylon species are endangered by habitat destruction.

Two species of Andean wax palms, C. quindiuense and C. alpinum, provide nesting sites and food for a species of Colombian parrot now in danger of extinction, Ognorhynchus icterotis.

Uses

In Colombia, Ceroxylon palms are frequently harvested for their wood. Ceroxylon palm leaves are also used in Palm Sunday ceremonies.[5]

Cultivation

Several Ceroxylon species, including C. quindiuense, C. alpinum, C. vogelianum, C. ventricosum, and C. parvifrons, are cultivated as ornamental trees outside their native range in cool, humid, mild climates with minimal frosts, such as parts of Australia, coastal California, Hawai'i, New Zealand, South Africa, and coastal Western Europe. The Jose Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden in Bogotá, Colombia, contains an extensive planting of Ceroxylon palms. Other public gardens where cultivated Ceroxylon spp. can be viewed include the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, the Huntington Botanical Gardens, in Pasadena (near Los Angeles), California, and the Oakland Palmetum at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California.

Species

The genus contains the following species:[3]

Image Scientific name Distribution
File:Chonta - Palma real (Ceroxylon alpinum) (14329134127).jpg Ceroxylon alpinum Bonpl. ex DC. Colombia, Venezuela
Ceroxylon amazonicum Galeano Ecuador
File:Palma de cera de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Ceroxylon ceriferum) - Flickr - Alejandro Bayer (1).jpg Ceroxylon ceriferum (H.Karst.) Pittier Colombia, Venezuela
File:3.cerox.echin (14616907378).jpg Ceroxylon echinulatum Galeano Ecuador, Peru
File:Ceroxylon parvifrons - Val Rahmeh - DSC04274.JPG Ceroxylon parvifrons (Engel) H.Wendl. Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Ceroxylon parvum Galeano Ecuador
Ceroxylon peruvianum Galeano, Sanín & K.Mejia Peru
Ceroxylon pityrophyllum (Mart.) Mart. ex H.Wendl. Peru, Bolivia
File:La palma de cera.jpg Ceroxylon quindiuense (H.Karst.) H.Wendl. Colombia
File:Ceroxylon sasaimae 67008730.jpg Ceroxylon sasaimae Galeano Antioquia, Cundinamarca
File:4.cerox.ventri (14800418341).jpg Ceroxylon ventricosum Burret Colombia, Ecuador
File:1.cerox.vogel (14801190894).jpg Ceroxylon vogelianum (Engel) H.Wendl. Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  4. Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  5. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

External links

Script error: No such module "Side box".

Template:Arecaceae genera Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control