Attalea crassispatha
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| Attalea crassispatha | ||||||||||||||
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| Attalea crassispatha (Mart.) Burret |
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Maximiliana crassispatha Mart. |
Attalea crassispatha (Carossier, Carroussier, Côrossié, Petit coco, Kawosie, Ti koko[2], Kowos, Kokowos, Kolowosh, Kowos etranjè[3]) is a palm endemic to southwest Haiti. It is considered a critically endangered species[1] with an estimated population of 25 individuals in 1991.[3] As a result of its small population size, A. crassispatha has been described as being one of the rarest palms in the Americas.[4] Efforts are underway to conserve the species by planting seedlings both in Haiti and elsewhere; in 1991 seeds were distributed to botanic gardens in 12 countries.[3]
The species has a solitary stem, growing up to about 20 m (66 feet) tall with pinnately compound leaves. The fruit is reddish when ripe.[2] The seeds are edible; the flavour is similar to that of coconut, but it is richer in fats and denser. The nuts are also a good source of cooking oil. The bract is used as a bowl for feeding pigs. The leaves are used for thatch and weaving, but only when the more common fan palms Sabal causiarum and Coccothrinax argentea are unavailable. It is also used as a source of lumber and as a boundary marker between farmers' fields due to its longevity and ability to survive hurricanes.[3]
Very little natural vegetation survives in Haiti. A. crassispatha is found in three anthropogenic habitats - field gardens, courtyard gardens, and shrub forest. Field gardens are typically a mixture of annual crops which are farmed for a few years and then converted to pasture. Courtyard gardens are cultivated with perennial crops, usually on more fertile soils. Shrub forests are small patches of secondary forest, often on dry stony areas which are least suitable for agriculture.[3] Timyan and Reep considered courtyard gardens to have the highest potential for survival and regeneration. At the other extreme, they found only one case of natural regeneration in a field garden.[3]
A. crassispatha is the most isolated disjunct in the genus Attalea. All the other species in the genus are Central or South American species; the only other species found in the insular Caribbean, A. maripa and A. osmantha, are found in Trinidad and Tobago, at the extreme southern end of the Caribbean. Its small population size and extreme isolation from other members of the genus make A. crassispatha scientifically interesting.[2]
Charles Plumier visited the island of Hispaniola in 1689 and published a description of the species in 1703. Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius used Plumier's notes and drawings to give the species a formal Linnaean description in 1884 placing it in the genus Maximiliana. In 1929 Max Burret transferred the species to Attalea. In 1939 O. F. Cook placed the species in a new genus, Bornoa, named for Louis Borno, former President of Haiti. However, Cook did not validly publish it, making the name invalid. Liberty Hyde Bailey kept the species in the genus Attalea. S. F. Glassman considered it close to the genus Orbignya, but suggested that it may represent a new genus.[2] Recent work[2][5] has favoured maintaining all Attaleinae in a single genus, Attalea.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Johnson, D. (1988). Attalea crassispatha. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Henderson, Andrew; Michael Balick (1991). Attalea crassispatha, a rare and endemic Haitian palm (JSTOR subscription required). Brittonia 43 (3): 189–194. doi:.
- ^ a b c d e f Timyan, Joel C.; Samuel F. Reep (1994). Conservation status of Attalea crassispath (Mart.) Burret, the rare and endemic oil palm of Haiti. Biological Conservation 68: 11–18. doi:.
- ^ Henderson, Andrew; Gloria Galeano; Rodrigo Bernal (1995). Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-08537-4.
- ^ Govaerts, R.; J. Henderson; S.F. Zona; D.R. Hodel; A. Henderson (2006). World Checklist of Arecaceae. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved on 2007-02-06.
[edit] References
- Attalea crassispatha. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
