Gaussia spirituana

Gaussia spirituana
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Gaussia
Species: G. spirituana
Binomial name
Gaussia spirituana
Moya & Leiva

Gaussia spirituana is a palm which is endemic to the Sierra de Jatibonico in east-central Cuba.[2]

Gaussia spirituana stems are whitish, up to 7 metres tall. Stems are 30–35 centimetres in diameter, swollen at the base and tapering upward. Trees have up to ten pinnately compound leaves. Fruit are orange-red, 1 cm in diameter.[3]

The species is considered endangered based on the fact that only 150 individuals are known to exist, and they are fragmented into five subpopulations.[1] They are also threatened by habitat destruction and non-native pathogens.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Gaussia spirituana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2007. International Union for Conservation of Nature. 1998. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/38572. Retrieved November 16, 2007. 
  2. ^ "Gaussia spirituana". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/wcsp/namedetail.do?accepted_id=88910&repSynonym_id=-9998&name_id=88910&status=true. Retrieved 2006-12-08. 
  3. ^ 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.