Metroxylon
| Metroxylon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Metroxylon sagu | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Subfamily: | Calamoideae |
| Tribe: | Calameae |
| Genus: | Metroxylon Rottb.[1] |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Metroxylon is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the Arecaceae (palm) family, 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.[2]
The name is formed from the combination of two Greek words, metra - "womb", commonly translated as "heart" in this context and xylon - "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 over-sized 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".[3] 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. The fruit, covered in tough scales, are relatively large for palms and contain one seed.[3]
It contains the following species [4][5][2]
- Metroxylon amicarum (H.Wendl.) Hook.f. – Pohnpei, Chuuk
- Metroxylon paulcoxii McClatchey – Samoa
- Metroxylon sagu Rottb. – Sago Palm – New Guinea, Maluku
- Metroxylon salomonense (Warb.) Becc. – Salomon Palm – New Guinea, Maluku, Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu
- Metroxylon upoluense Becc. – Samoa
- Metroxylon vitiense (H.Wendl.) Hook.f. – Fiji Sago Palm – Wallis & Futuna Islands, Fiji
- Metroxylon warburgii (Heimerl) Becc. – Santa Cruz Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu
References
- ↑ Rottboell, Nye Samling af det Kongelige Danske Videnskabers Selskabs Skrifter 2:257. 1783 (conserved name) Type:M. sagu
- 1 2 3 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- 1 2 Riffle, R. L. and Craft, P. (2003). An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-558-6 / ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6 (page 389)
- ↑ WCSP, World Checklist of Arecaceae: Metroxylon
- ↑ "Metroxylon species (Sago palm)" (PDF).