Pigafetta

Pigafetta is a native to Asia palm genus. With up to 50 m height, it is the highest known palm species in Asia. It is according to Antonio Pigafetta, a traveling companion of Magellan, named.

  • 5.1 Notes and references

Features

The representatives are massive, single -stemmed, tree-shaped reinforced palms. They bloom several times and are dioecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( dioecious ). The stem is erect, is very high and has prominent nodes scars. The internodes are shiny green above, later they become brown. At the base of the trunk arise numerous, some thorn -like adventitious roots. The stem bark is very hard, the Mark soft.

The chromosome number is 2n = 28

The leaves are pinnate, strongly curved, and fall at higher copies from having a smooth scar. The leaf sheath ruptures towards the petiole. The vagina is at the base unarmed, above abaxial ( on the outside ) filled with low collars, which carry numerous soft, flexible spines. The petiole is absent in Pigafetta filaris and is very solid in Pigafetta elata. Stalk and rachis are reinforced on the bottom like the sheath. The leaflets are simply folded, arranged numerous and regular. They are curved, slender, pointed. At the edge sit short, long bristles at the midrib.

Inflorescences

The inflorescences are in leaf axils, to blossom between the leaves ( intrafoliar ), and sometimes come with time by the fall of the liner sheet under the crown of leaves to stand. They are more horizontal and branched two-fold. The cover sheet has a tight-fitting sheath and dense coat. The approximately eight bracts on the inflorescence stem are Roehrig and inflated in male inflorescences something. The inflorescence axes are longer than the stem. The first-order lateral axes are continuous. The second-order lateral axes are also connected and wear the flowers. In the male inflorescences of each bract carrying a dyad of fertile flowers in the female a single female flower.

Flowers

The male flowers are symmetrical. The cup is striped, cup-shaped and has three flat lobes. The crown is longer than the calyx, Roehrig at the base and has three striped, narrow, triangular lobes. The six stamens set at the mouth of the corolla tube. The stamens are fused to a low ring side. The anthers are oblong, slightly arrow-shaped. The stamp fragment is very small. The pollen grains are spherical and symmetrical. You have no germ opening ( are inaperturat ). The longest axis measures 29 to 36 micrometers.

The female flowers are approximately spherical. The cup mug has three very short lobes. The crown is divided almost to the base into three broad, triangular lobes. The six staminodes are united by their filaments into a short ring with six lobes, borne by the flattened, empty anthers. The gynoecium is incompletely divided into three fruit boxes. It contains three ovules, is spherical and covered with scales. The three stigmas are short and bent back. The ovules are anatrop and sit basal.

Fruit and seeds

The fruit is very small, egg-shaped and contains a seed. The exocarp is busy in vertical rows with reflexed scales. The mesocarp is thin, as is the non- differentiated endocarp. The seed sits basal, laterally flattened slightly and surrounded with a thick, sweet Sarko Testa. The endosperm is homogeneous with very shallow indentations and has laterally a shallow pit. The embryo sits at the side opposite the pit.

Dissemination and locations

Pigafetta filaris occurs in the Moluccas and New Guinea, Pigafetta elata is endemic to Sulawesi. Pigafetta elata is a pioneer Palm to mountainous disturbed habitats and occurs mainly between 300 and 1500 m above sea level. It grows on old landslides, lava flows and river banks and on abandoned land. Pigafetta filaris also seems to be a pioneer Palm, but little is known about them.

System

The genus Pigafetta is placed in the subfamily Calamoideae, Tribe Calameae within the family Arecaceae. You alone forms the subtribe Pigafettinae. Pigafetta is a monophyletic group.

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

  • Pigafetta elata
  • Pigafetta filaris

Use

The strains of Pigafetta elata be used on Sulawesi for columns in house construction, for floors and boards for the manufacture of basic furniture.

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. 179-181.
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