Dypsis mahia Beentje, Palms Madagascar : 296 (1995)

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This is a very small species with pencil-thin stems. The small, entire leaves with long lobes are very distinct. Mahia is Malagasy for 'slender' and refers to the very slender lobes of the lamina which, curiously and most unusually in the genus, are acuminate rather than dentate. (Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar)A

Manombo, only known from the type. (Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar)A

D. mahia has stems and sheaths reminiscent of D. bernierana, but is otherwise very different and does not really resemble any other species. (Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar)A

Palma minima lobis folii integri longis acutis distincta. (Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar)A

Lowland rain forest on thin humus layer over rocky soil; c. 60 m. (Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar)A

Critical. Known from a single site, which is slowly being destroyed by fire, shifting cultivation and logging. (Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar)A

Solitary or with paired stems. STEMS to 60 cm, c. 6 mm diam; internodes 3-6 mm, glabrous; nodal scars 1-2 mm. LEAVES 8-10 in the crown, entire; sheath 5-5.5 cm long, the outer open, the inner closed, pale brown with scattered reddish scales distally, with laciniate edges, without auricles; petiole 5.5-7 cm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, with scattered scales; lamina entire, 34-38 cm long, connate for 5-7 cm, lobed for 80-85 %, the lobes 1.1-1.8 cm wide; main veins 5, with few small reddish scales; apices long-acumi-nate, not dentate. INFLORESCENCE interfoliar, erect, branched to 1 order; peduncle 15 -16 cm long, 1.5-2 mm diam., glabrous; prophyll 11-11.5 cm long, open in the distal 1 cm, with few scattered scales; peduncular bract inserted at c. 8 cm from the base of the peduncle, c. 10.5 cm long, open in the distal 4.5 cm, with few scattered scales; rachis c. 6 cm long, glabrous, with 12 rachillae; rachillae porrect, 3-5 cm long, 0.6 mm diam., glabrous. STAMINATE FLOWERS yellow in bud, with sepals 0.5-0.6 x 0.5-0.7 mm; petals 0.7-0.9 x 0.8 mm; stamens 6, uniseriate?, the filaments connate at the base, 0.4 mm long and thin, anthers 0.4 x 0.3 mm, AB dorsifixed, slighttly sagittate. PISTILLATE FLOWERS not seen. FRUIT not seen. (Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar)A

Farafangana: Manombo, Jan. 1993 (bud), Beentje & Andriampaniry 4792 (Holotype K; isotype TAN). (Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar)A

A. Dransfield, J. & Beentje, H. 1995: The Palms of Madagascar