Roystonea violacea León

  • Authority

    Zona, Scott A. 1996. Roystonea (Arecaceae: Arecoideae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 71: 1-35. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Arecaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Roystonea violacea León

  • Type

    Type. Cuba. Guantánamo: Los Llanos SE of Baracoa, 12 Jul 1938, León & Seifriz 18280 p.p. (lectotype [leaf only], HAC; isotypes, BH, US).

  • Description

    Species Description - Trunk mauve-brown to mauve-gray, to 15 m tall, ca. 34 cm diam. Leaves ca. 15, lowest leaves hanging well below the horizontal; crownshaft ca. 2 m long; petiole ca. 80 cm long; rachis 3.2-3.6 m long; middle segments 95-104 cm long and 3.7-4 cm wide. Inflorescence ca. 1.3 m long and 1 m wide; prophyll 40-42 cm long and 12-13 cm wide, peduncular bract ca. 1.2 m long, widest above middle, apex acuminate; rachillae 17-20 cm long and 1.4-2 mm diam. Staminate flowers violet, darker toward the base of the petals and filaments; sepals triangular, ca. 0.9 mm long and 1.2 mm wide; petals ovate, ca. 5.1 mm long and 2.9 mm wide; stamens 6, ca. 5.8 mm long; filaments awl-shaped, ca. 3.7 mm long; anthers ca. 3.7 mm long, purple; pistillode minute. Pistillate flowers violet, 2-2.5 per cm; sepals reniform, ca. 1.2 mm long and 3.3 mm wide; petals ovate, coriaceous, ca. 3 mm long; staminode shallowly 6-lobed, ca. 2.3 mm long, free for ca. 1.2 mm; gynoecium ca. 2.4 mm long and 2.5 mm diam. Fruits spheroid to ellipsoid, 12-13.7 mm long, 8.1-9 mm dorsiventral thickness, and 7.8-8.5 mm wide; epicarp brown to black, stigmatic scar plain; endocarp ellipsoid, fragile, 7.8-8.5 mm long, 5.9-6.6 mm dorsiventral thickness, and 6.2-6.5 mm wide; seed dorsiventrally compressed ellipsoid, 5.8-9.3 mm long, 4.3-5.3 mm dorsiventral thickness, and 5.3-6 mm wide; raphe circular. Eophyll linear-lanceolate, exstipitate, weakly costate.

  • Discussion

    As mentioned above (see Roystonea maisiana), mixed materials in the type collection of R. violacea have hindered our understanding of this species. The above description draws heavily on collections made by the author in 1990 (Zona, 1991).

    The staminode, fruit, and seed illustrated by León (1943: pl. 1, figs. 2, 3, 6) belong to R. maisiana, as does the fruit illustrated by Bailey (1949: fig. 32). Bailey’s illustration of the flower appears to be correctly identified. Regrettably, botanical collections are still so incomplete that I cannot say if the prophyll illustrated by León (1943) in his plate 1, figure 7 are properly identified.

    The specimen and seeds collected by J. M. Leiva in Imias and distributed under the number Zona & Leiva 396 were misidentified. Molecular analysis shows that this collection is not R. violacea; it appears to be nothing other than R. regia.

    Like all Cuban Roystonea, this species is used for timber, thatch, and hog feed.

  • Common Names

    Palma criolla azul, palma morada, palma roja

  • Distribution

    Restricted to the Maisí region of the province of Guantánamo, Cuba, at 350420 m altitude.

    Cuba South America| Guantánamo Cuba South America|