Zombia

Zombia antillarum

Zombia antillarum is endemic on the island of Hispaniola palm. It is characterized by its spiny leaf sheaths and the only species of the genus Zombia.

Features

Zombia antillarum is a medium sized, androgynous, multi-stemmed fan palm. The stem is erect, slender and covered with persistent, overlapping leaf sheaths. Near the base of the stem protrude some thorn -like pneumatophores from the ground.

The leaves are fan-shaped, the leaflets are V-shaped. Before the fall they wither. The leaf sheath forms a network of fibers, the distal fibers form a whorl of spines. The petiole is slender, long and unarmed. In cross-section it is semicircular. The adaxial location ( toward the axis ) Hastula is three-lobed, the middle lobe is pointed, the lateral are rounded. In the abaxial ( remote from the axis) of the middle lobe Hastula is also tapered, the side are very small. The leaf blade is along the adaxial folds very irregularly divided one-half to two -thirds of the length. This gives rise to simple folded, lance-shaped and rather thin segments. You are at the top glossy dark green, whitish on the underside with a pronounced midrib.

The inflorescences appear between the leaves and branches are shorter than two-fold. The peduncle is short. The cover page is Roehrig, zweikielig and then opens with two lobes. It is longitudinally striped. Bracts on the inflorescence stem missing. The inflorescence axis is longer than the hairy - stalk and dense. The bracts are here Roehrig, vertical stripes and hairy scattered. Each has a short pointed lobe. The first-order lateral axes are away from each other, each wearing a basal stehendens cover sheet which is Roehrig, zweikielig, bilobed, with longitudinal stripes and scattered hairs. The second-order lateral axes are short, bald, finely papillose and contribute rather far apart standing, single flowers.

The flowers are cream-colored. The perianth is flat and cup-shaped with six short, membranous tips. The 9 to 12 stamens have short, slender stamens and basifixe, upright, long anthers latrors (side) open. The pollen is ellipsoidal and slightly to significantly asymmetric. The germ is opening a distal sulcus. The longest axis of the pollen grain is 30 to 38 microns long. The gynoecium is inverted pear-shaped, consisting of a carpel and tapers to a large, laterally compressed, cup-shaped scar. The ovule is located basally and is orthotropic.

The perianth and the bases of the stamens are retained by their fruits. They are oblong to globose, white, fleshy, the scars radical apically. The exocarp is smooth, the mesocarp is fleshy with fibers, the endocarp is crusty. The seed is basally attached, deeply bilobed, the two lobes unequally bilobed again. At the junction of the two halves is the embryo. The endosperm is homogeneous and is located in the lobes.

The chromosome number is 2n = 36

Dissemination and locations

Zombia antillarum is found only on the island of Hispaniola. It grows here to open and scrubby slopes very dry hills.

It grows mainly on serpentine soils, but is also found on limestone.

In the IUCN Red List, the species is not listed. It is classified as rare in Haiti due to the widespread destruction of the sites as endangered. The sites are being cleared despite the extremely low fertility of serpentine soils to create arable land. In some areas of the Dominican Republic, the species is relatively common. This is attributed to several factors: the serpentine sites are less cleared; the palm trees can again cast with multiple stems after felling, and they form up to 5000 seeds per year; thus, the species can regenerate relatively well.

System

The genus Zombia is placed in the subfamily Coryphoideae, Tribe Cryosophileae within the family Arecaceae. Their sister group is a clade with Coccothrinax, Hemithrinax and Leucothrinax which may also contain Thrinax.

The genus includes only the type antillarum Zombia. She was described in 1821 by antillarum Descourtilz as Chamaerops and 1939 then transferred from Bailey in a separate genus Zombia. The Style epithet antillarum means " of the Antilles ", the island group is part of the Hispaniola.

The genus name refers to the code commonly used in Haitian Creole trivial name " latanye zombi ". " Latanye " from the French " Latanier " is the name of fan palms, " zombi " means the living dead of the voodoo cult. Ethnographic sources indicate that the people in Gros Morne (Haiti) believe that the yellowish- brown oil from the seeds senses acts as activator. Consequently, the oil is used to awaken the zombies to life. Another connection is the alleged use of the leaves on the roofs to prevent zombies from probing the residents. Taylor and timyan were unable to verify information both in 2004.

Other common names are " latanye Pikan " (Prickly fan palm ), " Latanier savanna " or " Latanier marron " ( savannah or wild fan palm ). In the Dominican Republic it is called " Guanito " or " Guanillo ", the diminutive of " guano ", a term for various palms of the genera Coccothrinax and Thrinax.

Use

According Descourtilz the hard stem wood was used for making of boxes and snuff boxes. The seeds were used according to him, for the treatment of vitamin C deficiency. The fruits are used as pig feed. In an area of the Dominican Republic, the petioles are used for mixing cassava flour. The leaves are used as brooms, but are of poorer quality than broom Coccothrinax and Sabal leaves. Reports on the use of the spines as needles for voodoo dolls could not be confirmed by Taylor and timyan.

The most important use is as an ornamental plant.

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. 224f.