Metroxylon

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

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

Familia: Arecaceae
Subfamilia: Calamoideae
Tribus: Calameae
Subtribus: Metroxylinae
Genus: Metroxylon
Species: M. amicarum – M. paulcoxii – M. sagu – M. salomonense – M. upoluense – M. vitiense – M. warburgii
Name

Metroxylon Rottb., 1783
Synonyms

Heterotypic
Sagus Steck, Sagu: 21 (1757).
Coelococcus H.Wendl., Bonplandia (Hannover) 10: 199 (1862).

References

Rottbøll, C.F., 1783. Nye Saml. Kongel. Danske Vidensk. Selsk. Skr. 2: 525

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2018. Metroxylon in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Dec. 11. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2018. Metroxylon. Published online. Accessed: Dec. 11 2018.
The Plant List 2013. Metroxylon in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Dec. 11.
Tropicos.org 2018. Metroxylon. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Dec. 11.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Metroxylon in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.

Vernacular names
magyar: Szágópálma

Metroxylon is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the Arecaceae (palm) family, consisting of seven species. They are native to Western Samoa, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Moluccas, the Carolines and Fiji in a variety of habitats, and cultivated westward to Thailand and Malaya.[3]

The name is formed from the combination of two Greek words, metra - "womb", commonly translated as "heart" in this context and xylon - "wood", in allusion to the large proportion of pith contained in the plant.
Description

The trunks of Metroxylon species are solitary or clumped and large to massive in size, and usually sprout aerial roots at leaf-scar rings. All but one is monocarpic (hapaxanthic), foliage is pinnate with oversized petioles and leaf sheaths. The petioles are distinguished by "groups of small black spines resembling the record made by a seismograph as it registers a mild tremor".[4] All species have spines on the rachis and petiole. The monocarpic species present a Christmas tree shaped inflorescence, or instead, upward-reaching branches spreading horizontally. The fruit, covered in tough scales, are relatively large for palms and contain one seed.[4]
Extant species

It contains the following species [5][6][3][2]

Image	Name	Common name	Distribution
Hawaii by Forest and Kim Starr.jpg" decoding="async" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Metroxylon_amicarum_-_Keanae_Arboretum%2C_Maui%2C_Hawaii_by_Forest_and_Kim_Starr.jpg/180px-Metroxylon_amicarum_-_Keanae_Arboretum%2C_Maui%2C_Hawaii_by_Forest_and_Kim_Starr.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Metroxylon_amicarum_-_Keanae_Arboretum%2C_Maui%2C_Hawaii_by_Forest_and_Kim_Starr.jpg/240px-Metroxylon_amicarum_-_Keanae_Arboretum%2C_Maui%2C_Hawaii_by_Forest_and_Kim_Starr.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="768" height="90" width="120" />	Metroxylon amicarum (H.Wendl.) Hook.f.	Caroline ivory-nut palm	Pohnpei, Chuuk
	Metroxylon paulcoxii McClatchey		Samoa
	Metroxylon sagu Rottb.	Sago palm	New Guinea, Maluku
	Metroxylon salomonense (Warb.) Becc.	Solomon palm	New Guinea, Maluku, Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu
	Metroxylon upoluense Becc.		Samoa
	Metroxylon vitiense (H.Wendl.) Hook.f.	Fiji sago palm	Wallis and Futuna, Fiji
	Metroxylon warburgii (Heimerl) Becc.	natangura palm[7]	Santa Cruz Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu

References

Rottboell, Nye Samling af det Kongelige Danske Videnskabers Selskabs Skrifter 2:257. 1783 (conserved name) Type:M. sagu
The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=metroxylon (accessed 11 September 2017).
Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Riffle, R. L. and Craft, P. (2003). An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-558-6 / ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6 (page 389)
WCSP, World Checklist of Arecaceae: Metroxylon Archived 2007-08-08 at the Wayback Machine
"Metroxylon species (Sago palm)" (PDF).
Sentance, Bryan; Sentance, Polly (2009). "2 Central and South America". Craft Traditions of the World: Locally Made, Globally Inspiring. London, UK: Thames & Hudson. pp. 72–73. ISBN 9780500514665. OCLC 317919883.