Laccospadix

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

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

Familia: Arecaceae
Subfamilia: Arecoideae
Tribus: Areceae
Subtribus: Linospadicinae
Genus: Laccospadix
Species: L. australasica
Name

Laccospadix Drude & H.Wendl.
References

Wendland, H. & Drude, C.G.O. 1875. Nachr. Königl. Ges. Wiss. Georg-Augusts-Univ. 1875: 59.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Laccospadix in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2019 Jun 07. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Laccospadix. Published online. Accessed: Jun 07 2019.
The Plant List 2013. Laccospadix in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2019 Jun 07.
Tropicos.org 2019. Laccospadix. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 07 Jun 2019.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Laccospadix in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 09-Oct-10.

Laccospadix is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm endemic to Queensland.[2] Only one species is known, Laccospadix australasicus, commonly called Atherton palm or Queensland kentia. The two Greek words from which it is named translate to "reservoir" and "spadix".

Description

Laccospadix australasicus may be solitary or clustering, in the former the trunks will grow to around 10 cm in width while clustering plants are closer to 5 cm wide. The trunks may be dark green to almost black at the base, lightening with age, and conspicuously ringed by leaf scars. Lone trunks will reach 7 m in height while the suckering varieties grow to 3.5 m. The leaves are pinnate, emerging erect with a slight arch, to 2 m on 1 m or less petioles; the petioles and rachises are usually covered in scales. The new foliage is often red to bronze, a feature more common in solitary individuals.[3]

The inflorescence is a long, unbranched spike, emerging within the leaf crown, to a meter long, carrying male and female flowers, both with three sepals and three longer petals. Laccospadix fruit is slightly ovoid, one-seeded and bright red, with a smooth epicarp and a thin fleshy mesocarp.[4]
Distribution and habitat

Found in Queensland, Australia at elevations of 800–1400 m in humid rain forest, they grow on mountains and plateau where they receive little light.
References

H. A. Wendland and Drude Nachrichten von der Georg-Agustus-Universität 1875:59. 1875. Type: L. australasica
Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Riffle, Robert L. and Craft, Paul (2003) An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-558-6 / ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6
Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN 0-935868-30-5 / ISBN 978-0-935868-30-2