Iguanura Blume, Bull. Sci. Phys. Nat. Néerl. 1: 66 (1838)

Primary tabs

Placement status: taxon unplaced
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Content

Distribution

About 32 species in Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula (including south Thailand) and Borneo, some of them very local and poorly known. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Discussion

  • The small size and usual lack of a crownshaft help todistinguish this genus. The most remarkable feature of thegenus is undoubtedly the range of fruit shape. Although thegenus has been recently monographed; many species,including the type, are insufficently known and represented inherbaria by few specimens. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Diagnosis

  • Small solitary or clustered pinnate-leaved palms of the forest undergrowth of Malay Peninsula, southern Thailand, Sumatra and Borneo; often lacking crowshafts, always with praemorse leaflets or leaf margins, and the flowers borne in pits; stigmatic remains in the fruit are basal. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Biology And Ecology

  • All species are plants of the undergrowth of primary tropical rain forest and often occur gregariously; they may be found at altitudes from sea level to about 1200 m in the mountains. In Malaya, Iguanura wallichiana is extraordinarily widespread, yet in Sumatra, it is local, for no obvious reason. In Borneo, many taxa are known in only very restricted areas. Iguanura melinauensis and I. elegans are found in rich alluvial soil developed at the base of limestone hills, but are not confined to this habitat, neither do they appear to be true calcicoles. Ants, flies, bees and wasps are frequent visitors to the staminate flowers of I. wallichiana (Kiew 1972), but of these, ants seem to be the most consistent visitors of pistillate flowers. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Etymology

  • Iguana — a lizard, ura — tail, referring to the rachilla bracts that give a scaly appearance to the inflorescence axes of some species. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Common Name

  • Pinang. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Uses

  • Species of Iguanura areseldom used except in a casual way, e.g., the leaves may beused for thatching overnight shelters. Roots and fruit of I.wallichiana have been attributed with contraceptive properties(Burkill 1966). All species are very decorative, but appear tobe difficult to cultivate. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Description

  • Small, solitary or clustered, acaulescent or erect, unarmed, pleonanthic, monoecious palms. Stems rarely exceeding about 4 m in height, with very short to elongate internodes, leaf scars inconspicuous, stilt roots sometimes present. Leaves undivided and pinnately ribbed, with or without an apical notch, or regularly to irregularly pinnate, marcescent or neatly abscising; sheaths usually splitting opposite the petiole and persistent, not forming a crownshaft, or rarely neatly abscising and a crownshaft developed, variously tomentose, a tattering ligule sometimes present; petiole present or absent, variously indumentose as the rachis; expanding blades frequently reddish-tinged, leaflets single-or several-fold, the tips or margins in entire blades irregularly praemorse, the main ribs frequently bearing scales or hairs, scattered or in bands, the blade with conspicuous longitudinal veins, transverse veinlets inconspicuous. Inflorescences usually interfoliar or infrafoliar (in species with a crownshaft), solitary, protandrous, spicate or branching to 1 or 2 orders, emerging long before anthesis, erect at first, becoming curved or pendulous; peduncle very short to very long; prophyll 2-keeled, tubular, short, usually enclosed within the leaf sheath, frequently marcescent, often indumentose; peduncular bract attached a short distance above the prophyll, usually much exceeding it, otherwise similar, marcescent, rarely neatly abscising, subsequent peduncular bracts very inconspicuous; rachis usually much shorter than the peduncle; rachillae rarely exceeding about 20 in number, usually fewer, very slender to moderately robust, glabrous or densely tomentose, bearing distant or dense, spirally arranged triads, superficial or, more usually, sunken in pits, each subtended by a low rachilla bract, forming the lower lip of the pit, an upper lip sometimes also differentiated, the pits frequently bearing sparse or abundant hairs, distal-most bracts subtending paired or solitary staminate flowers; floral bracteoles very small, included within the pits; flowers opening singly, in pit-bearing species the flowers exserted one at a time. Staminate flowers sessile, ± globular in bud, symmetrical, abscising after anthesis usually leaving the calyx behind; sepals 3, distinct, imbricate, membranous, ± striate, often keeled, often ciliate-margined, sometimes tomentose, scarcely exserted from the pit; petals 3, valvate, twice as long as the sepals, somewhat hooded, very briefly joined at the base; stamens 6, filaments slender, elongate, fleshy, inflexed in bud, anthers ± oblong, the margins sometimes undulate, ± versatile, latrorse; pistillode conspicuous, columnar, as long as the petals, fleshy. Pollen ellipsoidal asymmetric, occasionally pyriform or lozenge-shaped, less frequently oblate triangular; aperture a distal sulcus, infrequently a trichotomosulcus; ectexine tectate, perforate and micro-channelled or finely perforate-rugulate, aperture margin similar or slightly finer; infratectum columellate; longest axis 27–45 µm; post-meiotic tetrads tetrahedral [5/18]. Pistillate flower ± globular, slightly larger than the staminate; sepals 3, distinct, broadly imbricate, rounded, ± striate; petals 3, distinct, exceeding the sepals, broadly imbricate, with minute, triangular, valvate tips, ± striate; staminodes 6, slender, flattened; gynoecium unilocular, uniovulate, slightly asymmetrical, ± ovoid, stigmas 3, large, fleshy, reflexed, ovule laterally attached, hemianatropous. Fruit ovoid, ellipsoidal, bilobed, or narrowly spindle-shaped and straight or curved, or even flat and 5-pointed, smooth when fresh, smooth or ridged when dry, green, white, brownish or pink turning brilliant red at maturity, the stigmatic remains basal, perianth whorls persistent; epicarp smooth, shiny, mesocarp fleshy, endocarp well developed, woody, smooth or variously ridged, with a basal rounded operculum. Seed conforming to the shape of the endocarp, attached at one side near the base, the hilum ± circular, raphe branches spirally ascending, anastomosing, endosperm homogeneous or ruminate; embryo basal. Germination adjacent-ligular; eophyll ± entire, with praemorse margins, with or without a small apical notch. Cytology: 2n = 32. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Anatomy

  • Root (Seubert 1998a, 1998b) and fruit (Essig et al.1999). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Fossil record

  • No generic records found. (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Relationships

  • The monophyly of Iguanura has not beentested. The genus resolves in numerous alternative positions,all with low support (Lewis and Doyle 2001, Loo et al. 2006,Norup et al. 2006, Baker et al. in review, in prep.). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Taxonomic accounts

  • Kiew (1976, 1979); see also Lim (1998). (Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms)A

Bibliography

    A. Dransfield, J., Uhl, N., Asmussen, C., Baker, W.J., Harley, M. & Lewis, C. 2008: Genera Palmarum. The evolution and classification of palms