Neoveitchia

Neoveitchia storckii

Neoveitchia is a native only to the Pacific island groups of Vanuatu and Fiji palm genus.

• 3.1 Notes and references

Features

The representatives are medium-sized, single -stemmed palms with pinnate leaves. They are unarmed, several times a flourishing and monoecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( monoecious ). The stem is erect, glabrous, and provided with conspicuous annular leaf scars.

The chromosome number is unknown ( as of 2008).

The leaves are pinnate and leave at the falling of a smooth scar. The leaf sheath ruptures over the petiole and does not form a distinct crown shaft. In the vagina sit scattered scales, the opening is irregular fibrous. The petiole is flattened or slightly grooved on top, rounded on the bottom. He is also busy with scattered scales. The rachis is curved, dotted close to the bottom, covered with dense hair fuzzy at the top. The numerous leaflets are regularly are simply folded, pointed, and have strikingly thickened leaf margins. The top is bald, the bottom is hairy near the base along the midrib slightly.

Inflorescences

The inflorescences are under the foliage leaves and branches are three-fold. The inflorescence stem is winged at the base and slightly swollen, but narrows rapidly. Distal to be approximately circular in cross section. The cover sheet sits near the base of the stem. It is Roehrig, flattened, pronounced zweikielig and tears at the top long anthesis, while it is still enclosed in the leaf sheath of the liner sheet. The bract on peduncle about twice as long as the cover page, beaked, Roehrig and closes the inflorescence first one completely. At anthesis, it rips open lengthwise and decreases thereafter. There is one ( or two ) further, rather triangular bracts.

The inflorescence axis is approximately the same length as the stem. The bracts are spirally here. They are small and triangular. The first-order lateral axes are naked at the bottom. The flower-bearing axes ( Rachillae ) are rather stiff, bent to hanging and contribute rather few, far-removed from each flower triads. In the triad of the two male flowers are more distal from the female rather than the usual in other species lateral arrangement. At the top of each Rachilla are about seven vertical rows of flowers pits, of which beherbet each one in turn vertically arranged pair of male flowers. This male part of the Rachilla falls for fruit time. The Brakteolen the flowers are small and are in the pits.

Flowers

The male flowers are asymmetrical. Flowers from Triads have a flattened pedicel, such pairs of flowers are sessile. The three sepals are strongly keeled or winged, not adherent and strong imbricat. More often, a sepal is free, the other two are grown together over three quarters of its length to a zweikieligen, vorblattähnlichen structure. The three petals are free, triangular to ovate, valvat and smooth. There are six stamens. Their stamens are rather short, fleshy, the anthers are short, rectangular, Medifix, latrors with a broad connective. The stamp rudiment is columnar and as long as the stamens. The pollen is ellipsoidsch, asymmetrical and has a distal sulcus as a seed opening. The longest axis measures 46 to 58 microns.

The female flowers are significantly larger than the males and nearly spherical. The three sepals are free and widely overlapping. The three petals are free, broadly overlapping with the exception of small, triangular, valvaten tips. The three staminodes are very small, triangular, tooth-shaped. The gynoecium is a unicompartmental ovule. It is egg-shaped. The three scars are very small and bent backwards.

Fruit and seeds

The fruit is ellipsoidal, rather large and will ripen reddish- yellow. The perianth remains to maturity obtained at the top of the fruit is the residual scars. The exocarp is smooth, the mesocarp is fleshy with numerous longitudinal fibers. The endocarp is thin, bony and sits close to the seed. The seed has an elongated hilum (navel ), which runs along almost the entire length of the seed. The raphe is branched and anastomosing. The endosperm is homogeneous.

Systematics and distribution

The genus Neoveitchia is placed in the subfamily Arecoideae, Tribe and subtribe Areceae Carpoxylinae within the family Arecaceae.

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

• Neoveitchia brunnea is endemic to Vanuatu. It grows in rain forests with very high rainfall on red clay soil in around 300 m above sea level.
• Neoveitchia storckii is limited to a very small area in the Natasiri province on Viti Levu (Fiji). It grows in secondary forest on alluvial plains and nearby hills. But your locations are largely given way to agriculture.

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. 538f.