Metroxylon
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For".
Metroxylon is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the Arecaceae (palm) family, and commonly called the sago palms consisting of seven species. They are native to Western Samoa, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Moluccas, the Carolines and Fiji in a variety of habitats, and cultivated westward to Thailand and Malaya.[1]
The name is a combination of two Greek words: Script error: No such module "lang". meaning "womb", commonly translated as "heart" in this context, and Script error: No such module "lang". meaning "wood", in allusion to the large proportion of pith contained in the plant.
Description
The trunks of Metroxylon species are solitary or clumped and large to massive in size, and usually sprout aerial roots at leaf-scar rings. All but one is monocarpic (hapaxanthic), foliage is pinnate with oversized petioles and leaf sheaths. The petioles are distinguished by "groups of small black spines resembling the record made by a seismograph as it registers a mild tremor".[2] All species have spines on the rachis and petiole. The monocarpic species present a Christmas tree shaped inflorescence, or instead, upward-reaching branches spreading horizontally. These panicles are second only to Corypha spp in size, in the case of Metroxylon salomonense growing up to thirty feet (nine meters) in height by up to Script error: No such module "convert". in width.[3] The fruit, covered in tough shiny scales arranged in precise rows, are relatively large for palms and contain one seed.[2]
Extant species
It contains the following species [4][5][1][6]
| Image | Name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Metroxylon amicarum - Keanae Arboretum, Maui, Hawaii by Forest and Kim Starr.jpg | Metroxylon amicarum (H.Wendl.) Hook.f. | Caroline ivory-nut palm | Pohnpei, Chuuk |
| Metroxylon paulcoxii McClatchey | Samoa | ||
| File:Metrox sagu 071124 1516 stbu.jpg | Metroxylon sagu Rottb. | Sago palm | New Guinea, Maluku |
| Metroxylon salomonense (Warb.) Becc. | Solomon palm | New Guinea, Maluku, Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu | |
| Metroxylon upoluense Becc. | Samoa | ||
| File:Metroxylon vitiense.jpg | Metroxylon vitiense (H.Wendl.) Hook.f. | Fiji sago palm | Wallis and Futuna, Fiji |
| File:Rumbia-fruit-763034.jpg | Metroxylon warburgii (Heimerl) Becc. | natangura palm[7] | Santa Cruz Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu |
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ↑ a b Riffle, R. L. and Craft, P. (2003). An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. Template:ISBN / Template:ISBN (page 389)
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ WCSP, World Checklist of Arecaceae: Metroxylon Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Arecaceae genera Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control