Coccothrinax alta (O.F.Cook) Becc.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Arecaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect solitary palm 2-6 m tall; trunk cylindrical, 8-12 cm diam. Leaf blades to 75 cm long, fan-shaped, orbicular, silverywhite beneath, cleft to beyond the middle into many narrowly lanceolate, acuminate segments; petioles as long as the blades, with the base expanded into a persistent fibrous sheath. Inflorescences paniculate, solitary in leaf axils, ascending, with pendulous primary branches, the axes light to dark brown, glabrous; pedicels 1-3 mm long. Perianth 2.5-3 mm wide; stamens usually 9. Fruit depressed-globose or globose, 5-6 mm long, turning from green to purple, apiculate at apex.
Distribution and Ecology - Common throughout St. John in moist to dry forests. Bordeaux (A5089), Susannaberg (A2131). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Virgin Gorda; Puerto Rico (including Culebra and Vieques).
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Discussion
Thringis latifrons O.F. Cook, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 28: 545. 1901.
Coccothrinax eggersiana B e c c , Webbia 2: 321. 1907.
Coccothrinax sancti-thomae Becc, Webbia 2: 303. 1907.
Thrinax argentea sensu Eggers, Fl. St. Croix 100. 1879, nonLodd., 1830.
Common names: broom palm, broom teyer, fan palm, silver palm, teyer tree.