Livistona eastonii C.A.Gardner, For. Dept. Bull., W. Austral. 32: 36 (1923)

Primary tabs

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Distribution

Map uses TDWG level 3 distributions (https://github.com/tdwg/wgsrpd)
Western Australia present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Australia. Western Australia. In the Kimberley Region confined to the Mitchell Plateau to as far south as Doongan Stn. (Dowe, J.L.: A taxonomic account of Livistona R.Br. (Arecaceae))A

Habitat

  • Grows in a strongly monsoonal climate in open woodland, usually on flat sites or depressions and forms extensive colonies, 100-380 m alt. Soils are lateritic in origin. Flowers Apr? Sep; fruits Dec- June. (Dowe, J.L.: A taxonomic account of Livistona R.Br. (Arecaceae))A

Discussion

  • Livistona eastonii was described by Gardner (1923) from Lower King Edward R. in Western Australia, and named for William R. Easton, who directed the Kimberley Exploration Expedition in 1912 of which Gardner was the botanist. Gardner cited no specimens in the protologue, and Rodd (1998) chose Gardner 1544, a specimen collected from the Lower King Edward R. in Western Australia, as the lectotype. Livistona eastonii most closely resembles L. humilis, but it is distinguished by its larger size, and by not having sexually dimorphic inflorescences. Wilson (1992) described L. eastonii as dioecious, but provided only a description of ?male flowers?, and noted that the ?female flowers? were not seen, however providing an illustration of a ?female inflorescence?. Livistona eastonii is a moderate sub-canopy palm to 15 m tall; leaves are moderate and regularly segmented; segment apices are rigid, and with a bifurcate cleft to 63% of the segment length; the inflorescence is unbranched, not extending beyond the limit of the crown, and with up to 6 partial inflorescences; bracts are tubular; flowers are cream to yellow; fruit are obovoid to ellipsoid, to 16 mm long to 9 mm wide, and glossy purple black at maturity. (Dowe, J.L.: A taxonomic account of Livistona R.Br. (Arecaceae))A

Description

  • Functionally dioecious palm. Trunk to 15 m tall, 10-15 cm dbh, leaf scars raised, internodes narrow, grey, leaf-bases often persistent. Leaves 10-20 in a globose crown; petiole 50-200 cm long, 1.4-2 cm wide, arcuate, margins with single or double curved brown spines throughout its length but larger and closer in the proximal portion; leaf-base fibres moderately prominent, coarse, persistent; lamina costapalmate, regularly segmented, subcircular, 60-90 cm long, coriaceous, adaxially pale greyish green, abaxially lighter green, yellowish with age, pruinose, waxy; lamina divided for 50-90% of its length, with 40-50 segments, depth of apical cleft 49-63% of the segment length, apical lobes acute, rigid; parallel veins 5-9 each side of midrib; transverse veins thinner than parallel veins. Inflorescences unbranched at the base, not sexually dimorphic, 100-200 cm long, not extending beyond the limit of the crown, branched to 4 orders; partial inflorescences 5-6; prophyll not seen; peduncular bract 1, tubular; rachis bracts tubular with scattered appressed scales; rachillae 1-9 cm long, glabrous. Flowers solitary or in clusters of 2-4, 1.6-1.9 mm long, campanulate, cream to yellow; sepals broadly ovate, 0.2-1 mm long, fleshy, acute; petals narrowly ovate, 0.5-1.9 mm long, thick, acute; stamens ca 1.5 mm long. Fruit obovoid, infrequently approaching ellipsoid, 12-16 mm long, 8-9 mm diam., glossy purple-black; epicarp smooth; pedicel 0.5-2 mm long. Seed ellipsoid, 10- 13 mm long. Eophyll not seen. (Dowe, J.L.: A taxonomic account of Livistona R.Br. (Arecaceae))A

Materials Examined

  • Specimens examined: AUSTRALIA: Western Australia. 15 miles S of mouth of Mitchell R., 20 Jan 1973, Schultze s.n. (PERTH); Mitchell Plateau, Beard 6992 (PERTH, NSW); Mitchell Plateau, 15 miles (ca 23 km) N of Amax Bauxite Camp, Maconochie 1281 (BRI, CANB, DNA, K, L, PERTH); Mitchell Plateau Airfield, 14º47'S, 125º48'E, Hnatiuk MP28 & MP36 (K, PERTH); 2.9 km SE of Mitchell Plateau mining camp, 14º50'S, 125º51'E, George 14503 (CANB, LE, PERTH); Mitchell Plateau, Bauxite Camp, 18 km SSW of head of Port Warrender Bay, Montagu, 14º47'S, 125º49'E, 300 m alt., Rodd 2889 (K); Mitchell Plateau, Bauxite Camp, 20 km SSW of head of Port Warrender Bay, 14º49'S, 125º50'E, 300 m alt., Rodd 2888 (BH, K, NSW, PERTH); Mitchell Plateau, 25 km SSW of head of Port Warrender Bay, 14º51'S, 125º49'E, 270 m alt., Rodd 2887 (BH, K, NSW, PERTH); 15 miles S of Admiralty Gulf, Gardner 972 (PERTH); Broome Bay, Napier, Lower King Edward R., Gardner 1544 (B, BH, CANB, K, MEL, PERTH lectotype); 75 miles NNW of Gibb R Stn, Speck 4949 (CANB); 10 km SE of mining camp on track to Mitchell Falls Homestead, 14º53'S, 125º55'E, Fryxell & Craven 4044 (K, MEL, PERTH, UC); 100 miles S of Kalumburu, Hutchinson 84 (PERTH); Kalumburu Rd, 40 km N of Drysdale Stn, 15º21'S, 126º13'E, Dowe 360 (BRI); Kalumburu Rd, 40 km N of Drysdale Stn, 15º21'S, 126º13'E, Dowe 359 & 361 (JCT); 11 km N of Doongan Homestead, 15º21'S, 126º13'E, George 15220 (AD, CANB, K, NSW, PERTH); 8 km N of Doongan Homestead, 15º22'S, 126º13'E, George 15221 (CANB, K, NSW, PERTH); Doongan Stn, Crosland Ck at Gibb R., 15º23'S, 126º17'E, 380 m alt., Telford 6096 with Butler (CBG, NSW, PERTH); 15 km S of Doongan Stn, 34 km N of Drysdale R. Crossing, 15º25'S, 126º18'E, Forbes 2293 (L, MEL, PERTH); 25 miles N of new Drysdale Stn, Maconochie 1228 (CANB, DNA, LAE, MEL, NSW, NY, PERTH); 40 km N of Drysdale HS on Kalumburu Rd, Dowe 360 (BRI); 40 km N of Drysdale Stn crossing, 15º25'S, 126º18'E, 7 June 1984, Willis s.n. (MEL, PERTH); ca 12 km N of Drysdale R crossing,Kalumburu Rd, Symon 10254 (NSW); Kimberley District, 4 May 1922, Kessell s.n. (MEL). (Dowe, J.L.: A taxonomic account of Livistona R.Br. (Arecaceae))A

Bibliography

    A. Dowe, J.L.: A taxonomic account of Livistona R.Br. (Arecaceae)
    B. World Checklist of Arecaceae