Roystonea borinquena O.F.Cook
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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 10-18 m tall; trunk widest below the crown shaft portion, 50-60 cm diam., nearly smooth. Leaves 2 - 3 m long, ascending, the leaflets numerous, 50-80 cm long (the distal ones shorter), linear, folded, with a stout central vein; petioles stout, very short, enlarged at base, expanding into a nearly woody tubular sheath. Inflorescences paniculate, twice-branched, much shorter than the leaves. Flowers unisexual; sepals 0.8-1.5 mm long; petals 5-6 mm long, white. Fruit widely ellipsoid, ca. 13 mm long, light brown. Seeds oblong-ellipsoid to globose, ca. 9 mm long, 7 mm wide.
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Discussion
Common names: cabbage palm, mountain cabbage, royal palm.
Cultivated species: A few individuals of Sabal casuarium (O.F. Cook) Becc. (endemic to Puerto Rico) are cultivated on the grounds of Caneel Bay Hotel. Also, several immature individuals (persistent after cultivation) in the area of the old Reef Bay sugar plantation seem to be this species. Woodbury and Weaver (1987) reported Phoenix dactylifera L. from a cultivated palm at C m z Bay, but the palm has since died.
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Distribution
Rare, a few individuals found along gallery forests or stream banks. Maho Bay Gut (field observations). Also on St. Croix; Puerto Rico (including Culebra and Vieques).
Puerto Rico South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|