Medemia

Medemia
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Genus:	Medemia Wuert. ex H.Wendl.
Species:	M. argun
Binomial name
Medemia argun (Mart.) Wuert. ex H.Wendl.
Synonyms[1]
Hyphaene argun Mart. Areca passalacquae Kunth Medemia abiadensis H.Wendl.

Medemia argun is a rare palm tree species of flowering plant, in the family Arecaceae (Palmae) native to Africa. It is the only species in the genus Medmia. The palm's dried dates have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs.

Distribution

Medemia argun is found only in oases inside of the Nubian Desert, in Egypt and Sudan.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Conservation

The palm is an IUCN Red List critically endangered species, due to habitat loss.^[2]

References

1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
2. D. Johnson (1998). "Medemia argun". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
3. R. Govaerts & J. Dransfield (2005). World Checklist of Palms. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
4. L. Boulos (2005). Flora of Egypt 4. Cairo: Al Hadara Publishing.
5. Haitham Ibrahim & William J. Baker (2009). "Medemia argun – past, present and future" (PDF). Palms 53 (1): 9–21.
6. D. Dobignard & C. Chatelain (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1. Conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.