Chuniophoeniceae

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Arecales

Familia: Arecaceae
Subfamilia: Coryphoideae
Tribus: Chuniophoeniceae
Genera: Chuniophoenix – Kerriodoxa – Nannorrhops – Tahina
Name

Chuniophoeniceae J.Dransf., N.W.Uhl, C.Asmussen, W.J.Baker, M.M.Harley & C.E. Lewis Kew Bull. 60(4): 561. (2005)

Type genus: Chuniophoenix Burret, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin-Dahlem 13: 580 (1937)

References

Dransfield, J., Uhl, N.W., Asmussen, C.B., Baker, W.J., Harley, M.M. & Lewis, C.E. 2005. A New Phylogenetic Classification of the Palm Family, Arecaceae. Kew Bulletin 60 (4): 559–569. JSTOR Stable PDF. Reference page.
Dransfield, J., Uhl, N.W., Asmussen, C.B., Baker, W.J., Harley, M.M. & Lewis, C.E. 2008. Genera palmarum: The Evolution and Classification of Palms. Kew Publishing: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 9781842461822 Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2015. Chuniophoeniceae. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 5 Oct. 2015.

Chuniophoeniceae is a tribe of palms in subfamily Coryphoideae of plant family Arecaceae.[1][2] The four genera within the tribe are morphologically dissimilar and do not have overlapping distributions. Three of the genera are monotypic, while the fourth genus (Chuniophoenix) has three species.[3][4]

Description

Outwardly, the palms in the four genera of Chuniophoeniceae appear quite different. Chuniophoenix are small palms from the forest understory with clustered stems; Kerriodoxa is a squat, single-stemmed rainforest palm; Nannorrhops is a sprawling desert palm with branching stems; and Tahina is a massive solitary palm from exposed limestone outcrops.[3][5][4][6] They differ significantly in their flowering strategies, too. Chuniophoenix species flower regularly throughout their lives (pleonanthic) and produce hermaphroditic flowers (rarely single gender); Kerriodoxa are also pleonanthic, but are always dioecious; Nannorrhops stems die after flowering (hapaxanthic), though the much-branched plant survives; Tahina produces a massive terminal inflorescence and dies after fruiting. All Chuniophoeniceae have palmate leaves with induplicate folds and tubular bracts partially enclosing the flowers.[3][4][5][6]
Taxonomy

Chuniophoeniceae is one of eight tribes in subfamily Coryphoideae.[7] The tribe is monophyletic and closely related to tribes Caryoteae, Corypheae and Borasseae, forming the syncarpous clade.[3][7][6][8] In a previous classification, prior to the discovery of Tahina, the three other genera were placed in tribe Corypheae, subtribe Coryphinae, together with the genus Corypha.[9] Coincidentally, Corypha and Tahina both share the strategy of producing a massive display of flowers only once before dying.[6]

The four genera have widely disjunct distributions. Chuniophoenix (3 spp.) is found in southern China and Vietnam; Kerriodoxa (1 sp., K. elegans) is restricted to peninsular Thailand; Nannorrhops (1 sp., N. ritchiana) is found in parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the southeastern Arabian Peninsula; while Tahina (1 sp., T. spectabilis) is endemic to a small area of northwestern Madagascar.[3]
Genera

Image	Genus	Living Species
	Chuniophoenix Burret, 1937	Chuniophoenix hainanensis Burret - China: Hainan Chuniophoenix nana Burret - China: Hainan and northern Vietnam Chuniophoenix suoitienensis Henderson - Southern Vietnam
	Kerriodoxa J.Dransf., 1983	Kerriodoxa elegans, white backed palm
	Nannorrhops H.Wendl., 1879	Nannorrhops ritchiana, the Mazari palm
	Tahina J.Dransf. & Rakotoarinivo, 2008	Tahina spectabilis, the tahina palm

References

Baker, William J.; Dransfield, John (2016). "Beyond Genera Palmarum: progress and prospects in palm systematics". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 182 (2): 207–233. doi:10.1111/boj.12401.
Dransfield, John; Uhl, Natalie W.; Asmussen, Conny B.; Baker, William J.; Harley, Madeline M.; Lewis, Carl E. (2008). Genera Palmarum: The Evolution and Classification of Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 978-1-84246-182-2.
Dransfield, John; Uhl, Natalie W.; Asmussen, Conny B.; Baker, William J.; Harley, Madeline M.; Lewis, Carl E. (2008). Genera Palmarum - The Evolution and Classification of Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 9781842461822.
Henderson, Andrew (2015-07-01). "A revision of Chuniophoenix (Arecaceae)". Phytotaxa. 218 (2): 163. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.218.2.6. ISSN 1179-3163.
Dransfield, John (1983). "Kerriodoxa, a new coryphoid palm genus from Thailand". Principes. 27: 3–11.
Dransfield, John; Rakotoarinivo, Mijoro; Baker, William J.; Bayton, Ross P.; Fisher, Jack B.; Horn, James W.; Leroy, Bruno; Metz, Xavier (2008). "A new Coryphoid palm genus from Madagascar". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 156 (1): 79–91. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2007.00742.x. ISSN 0024-4074.
Dransfield, John (2005). "A new phylogenetic classification of the palm family, Arecaceae". Kew Bulletin. 60: 559–569 – via ResearchGate.
Bayton, Ross P. (2005). Borassus L. and the borassoid palms: systematics and evolution, PhD thesis. University of Reading.
Uhl, Natalie W.; Dransfield, John (1987). Genera Palmarum: A Classification of Palms Based on the Work of Harold E. Moore, Jr. L.H. Bailey Hortorium. ISBN 9780935868302.