Roystonea stellata

Roystonea stellata
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Arecoideae
Tribe: Roystoneae
Genus: Roystonea
Species: R. stellata
Binomial name
Roystonea stellata
León

Roystonea stellata is an extinct species of palm which was endemic to Yagruma terrace in the Maisí region of Guantánamo Province in eastern Cuba. The species is known from only a single collection made by French-born botanist Frère León in 1939.

Description

Roystonea stellata was a large palm which reached heights of 15 metres (49 ft). The 95 cm (3.12 ft) inflorescences bore white male and female flowers. Fruit were 9.8–10.5 millimetres (0.39–0.41 in) long and 7.8–8.5 mm (0.31–0.33 in) wide, and were black when ripe. The single known collection is not complete enough for a complete description.[2]

References

  1. Zona, Scott; Raúl Verdecia; Angela Leiva Sánchez; Carl E. Lewis; Mike Maunder (2007). "The conservation status of West Indian palms (Arecaceae)". Oryx 41 (3): 300–05. doi:10.1017/S0030605307000404.
  2. Zona, Scott (December 1996). "Roystonea (Arecaceae: Arecoideae)". Flora Neotropica 71: 1–35. no