Phoenix loureiroi

Phoenix loureiroi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Genus:	Phoenix
Species:	P. loureiroi
Binomial name
Phoenix loureiroi Kunth
Synonyms[1]
Phoenix hanceana Naudin Phoenix humilis Royle ex Becc. nom. illeg. Phoenix ouseleyana Griff. Phoenix pedunculata Griff. Phoenix pusilla Lour. nom. illeg. Phoenix pygmaea Raeusch. nom. inval. Phoenix robusta (Becc.) Hook.f.

Phoenix loureiroi (common name mountain date palm^[2]) is a species of flowering plant in the palm family, indigenous to southern Asia, from the southern islands of the Philippines, India, southern Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Pakistan, and China.^[3] It occurs in deciduous and evergreen forests and in clear terrain from sea level to 1,500 m altitude.^[4]

Phoenix loureiroi is named after João de Loureiro; it was originally written by Kunth as "loureirii", but this is an error to be corrected to loureiroi under the provisions of the ICBN.^[3]

Description

Phoenix loureiroi contains solitary and clustering plants with trunks from 1–4 m high and 25 cm in width, usually covered in old leaf bases. The leaves vary to some degree but usually reach 2 m in length with leaflets wide at the base and sharply pointed apices. The leaflets emerge from the rachis at varying angles creating a stiff, plumose leaf.

The fruit is a single-seeded drupe, bluish-black when ripe, produced on erect, yellow inflorescences, usually hidden within the leaf crown. The species is noted for its variability in different habitats.^[4]

Varieties

There are two varieties,^[3] based on the presence or absence of sclerotic, tannin-filled cells along the midribs and margins of leaflets:

• Phoenix loureiroi var. loureiroi.
• Phoenix loureiroi var. pedunculata (Griff.) Govaerts (syn. P. loureiroi var. humilis S.C.Barrow).

References

1. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
2. Mandle, L.; Ticktin, T.; Nath, S.; Setty, S.; Varghese, A. (2013). "A framework for considering ecological interactions for common non-timber forest product species: a case study of mountain date palm (Phoenix loureiroi Kunth) leaf harvest in South India". Ecological Processes 2 (21). doi:10.1186/2192-1709-2-21.
3. Germplasm Resources Information Network: Phoenix loureiroi
4. Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-558-6 / ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6 (pages 402-403)