Saribus rotundifolius (Lam.) Blume

Distribution

Elevation range: 0–2600 m a.s.l. Cultivated in Colombia. Colombian departments: Antioquia, Cundinamarca, Valle del Cauca.

Habit

Tree, Solitary palm.

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular

palma abanico

Distribution

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. In Indonesia on Java (though possibly escaped from cultivation only), Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Raja Ampat Islands; in Malaysia, in northern Sabah and nearby islands; and throughout the Philippines.a ta

General Description

Hermaphroditic palm. Trunk to 45 m tall, 15-25 cm dbh, leaf scars obscure to prominent, light green to white, internodes broad, green to grey, smooth or infrequently with longitudinal fissures, petiole stubs not persistent. Leaves 20-50 in a globose crown; petiole slightly arching, 90- 210 cm long, 15 cm wide proximally, ca 2 cm wide distally, adaxially flat or moderately ridged, margins with retrorsely recurved black spines 1-20 mm long throughout or proximally only, with largest proximally, distally becoming smaller and more widely spaced, or very infrequently with spines lacking in mature plants; leaf-base fibres moderately prominent, coarse, in a criss-cross pattern, brown, persistent, appendage triangular; hastula very prominent, 2 cm high; lamina costapalmate, circular to subcircular, regularly segmented, 75-150 cm long, adaxially semi-glossy dark green, abaxially lighter subglaucescent green; lamina divided for 38-62% of its length, with 60-90 segments, depth of apical cleft 4-25% of the segment length, apical lobes usually erect, but pendulous in segments with deeper clefts; mid-leaf segments ca 5 cm wide where the segments diverge; parallel veins 6-9 each side of midrib; transverse veins equal thickness or thinner than parallel veins. Inflorescences trifurcate with ± similar collateral axes, branched to 4 orders, 90-150 cm long, not extending beyond the limit of the crown, arching; partial inflorescences ca 10, longest to ca 30 cm; prophyll to 30 cm long, glabrous, straw coloured; peduncular bracts lacking or 1, and then tightly tubular; rachis bracts tightly tubular, reddish brown, glabrous, apically truncate, remaining intact with age; rachillae 3-20 cm long, 1-1.5 mm thick, straight, yellowish, glabrous. Flowers solitary or in clusters of 2-4, to 2-3 mm long, yellowish, sessile on small pulvini; sepals broadly ovate, very obtuse, dorsally carinate; petals less obtuse, yellowish; ovary glabrous; style subulate, acute, very short. Fruit globose to subglobose, 11-25 mm diam., at first yellow, ripening though to orange-red to red or to dark violet or bluish-black; stigmatic remains inconspicuous; epicarp thin, smooth or with scattered lenticellular pores; suture line for full length of fruit; mesocarp ca 1.5 mm thick, slightly fibrous to gritty; endocarp very thin; pedicel 2-3 mm long. Seed globose, 10-13 mm diam., endosperm intruded for two-thirds to almost full width of endosperm; hilum broad, orbicular; embryo lateral, 2-2.4 mm long. Eophyll 5 ribbed.

Habitat

Locally abundant in swampforest, seasonally dry swampforest, mangrove margins, rainforest, moist evergreen forest, along rivers and secondary forest at 0-300 m alt. Flowers all year; fruits all year.

Vernacular

Footstool Palm, Balla (Mindanao), Luzon Livistona, Anahao (Tagalog), Bulus (Albay Province), Mindoro Livistona, Panobao (Tagalog), Pilig (Tagalog); Sergand (Sumatra), Woka (North Sulawesi).

Conservation

Least concern.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/38598/10131311

Conservation

VU - vulnerable

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution

Cultivada en Colombia; Alt. 0 - 2600 m.

Morphology General Habit

Árbol, palma solitaria