Guihaia

Guihaia is a native to China and Vietnam palm genus. The species of the genus are rarely cultivated as ornamental plants, but otherwise not used.

• 4.1 Notes and references

Features

The representatives are dwarf, more or less stemless fan palms. They are multi-stemmed, unreinforced or reinforced several times and flowering dioecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( dioecious ). The stem is prostrate or erect, covered with very short, and the persistent petiole bases and leaf sheaths.

The chromosome number is 2n = 36

The leaves are reduplicat, fan-shaped and dry up on the plant ( Marzeszenz ). The sheaths disintegrate into a mass of interwoven, rough, black, spike-like fibers or in a tongue-shaped network of coarse, flat fibers. The petiole is moderately long, unarmed, with sharp edges and hairy woolly. The Hastula on the top is round, occupied bald or with woolly hair. The leaf blade is circular or wedge-shaped. It is divided to 3/ 4 to 4 /5 of radius around 20 linealische, simple or rarely twice reduplicat folded segments. The edges of the segments are serrated or smooth. The upper side of blade is dark green and glabrous with the exception of scales along the leaf veins. The lower surface is densely covered with silvery woolly hair or bald.

Inflorescences

The inflorescences appear singly in the leaf axils and between the sheets. You are branched to four times. Male and female inflorescences are similar. The cover sheet is long, Roehrig, zweikielig, thin and somewhat leathery. At the top there is a tear on two sides. The peduncle is long, somewhat flattened and bears no bracts. The inflorescence axis bearing two to five bracts, which resemble the cover page, but are not zweikielig. There are four to five lateral branches of the first order. The flower-bearing lateral axes ( Rachillae ) are spreading, few to numerous, very slender and straight. Enter individually standing flowers on small swelling in a spiral arrangement.

Flowers

The male flowers are very small and symmetrical. The three sepals are fused briefly only at the base, otherwise free. They are round to oval, the exterior is hairy and occupied by frayed woolen hair. The petals are longer than the sepals and fused to one-third to one-half. The corolla lobes are plump and bare. There are six stamens, their filaments do not form a tube, but are completely fused with the crown. The anthers are roundish and spring apparently directly of the crown. A stamp rudiment is missing. The pollen is ellipsoidal, bisymmetrical to slightly asymmetrical and attaches to the longest axis of 17 to 24 microns.

Female similar to male flowers, but are slightly rounded. The sepals are similar to those of the male flowers. The length of the petals is from little longer than twice as long as the sepals. They are connected in the lower third. There are six staminodes that sit directly on the petals. The three carpels are free, bald and narrowed abruptly into a short style at the top end. The ovule is located basally.

Fruit and seeds

The fruit develops from only one carpel. It is round to ellipsoidal, from blue - black color and has a thin white layer of wax. The scars radical apical who did not develop carpel remains basal. The exocarp is bald, the mesocarp very thin and fleshy, endocarp papers. The seed is flattened on one side, has a side navel ( hilum ) and a clearly pronounced ingrowth of the integument. The endosperm is homogeneous. The embryo sits laterally.

Dissemination and locations

Guihaia argyrata is endemic in southern China (Guangxi and Guangdong), Guihaia grossifibrosa in the north of Vietnam and southwestern Guangxi. Both species are found only on steep slopes and in the crevices of the karst hill country where they only rise to about 200 m above sea level. They grow in warm temperate to subtropical climate to about 26 ° north latitude.

System

The genus Guihaia is placed in the subfamily Coryphoideae, Tribe Trachycarpeae, subtribe Rhapidinae within the family Arecaceae. The monophyly of the genus has not yet been investigated. Her sister group depending on the examination Rhapis or Trachycarpus.

In the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the following two types are recognized:

• Guihaia argyrata ( type species )
• Guihaia grossifibrosa

Documents

• John Dransfield, Natalie W. Uhl, Conny B. Asmussen, William J. Baker, Madeline M. Harley, Carl E. Lewis: Genera palmarum. The Evolution and Classification of Palms. Second edition, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2008, ISBN 978-1-84246-182-2, pp. 249-251.