Trithrinax

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Trithrinax
Trithrinax campestris in a garden, grown as ornamental palm
Trithrinax campestris in a garden, grown as ornamental palm
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Coryphoideae
Tribe: Corypheae
Genus: Trithrinax[1]

Trithrinax is a genus of few flowering plants in the Arecaceae family, that belong to the Coryphoideae subfamily, a not very evolved lineage. The name is derived of ancient greek, where tri means three, and thrinax trident. It was named as such in 1837 by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius a German botanist and explorer.[2]

Trithrinax species are quite spiny fan palms native to South America. They are also rustic, tough trees, resistant to cold, heat, wind, drought, poor soils and other adverse environmental conditions. They germinate fast but their growth is distinctively slow.[3]

Contents

[edit] Species

  • Trithrinax brasiliensis Mart., Hist. Nat. Palm. 2: 150 (1837).
  • Trithrinax campestris caranday palm. (Burmeist.) Drude & Griseb., Abh. Königl. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen 24: 283 (1879).
  • Trithrinax schizophylla Drude in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Bras. 3(2): 551

[edit] Description

Common features of any Trithrinax specimen are:

  • Flowers: Inflorescences, in the order of hundreds of units. Three sepals, three petals, six stamens and three carpels.
  • Stem: Dead foliage is kept as a thick and spiny coat around it.
  • Leaves: Fan shaped, composed of strong resistant fibers.
  • Shoots: Red coloured.

[edit] Habitat

Trithrinax species are spread along vast subtropical zones of South America: Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina. They prefer dry, open or forest clearing, environments, with moderate to cold winters.[4]

[edit] Usage

Leaf fibers are used as raw material for textiles, rustic clothing, and handicrafts. Oil can also be extracted from seeds. Fruits are sometimes used locally, fermented, to produce alcoholic beverages.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Martius, Historia Naturalis Palmarum 2:149. 1837. Type:T. brasiliensis
  2. ^ Moore, H. E., Jr. 1963. An annotated checklist of cultivated palms.
  3. ^ Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN-10: 0881925586 / ISBN-13: 978-0881925586
  4. ^ a b Jones, D. L. 1994. Palms throughout the world.