Roystonea violacea León, Mem. Soc. Cub. Hist. Nat. ''Felipe Poey'' 17: 10 (1943)

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Distribution

Map uses TDWG level 3 distributions (https://github.com/tdwg/wgsrpd)
Cuba present (World Checklist of Arecaceae)B
Restricted to the Maisf region of the province of Guantánamo, Cuba, at 350-420 m altitude. (Zona, S. 1996. Roystonea.(Arecaceae: Arecoideae). Flora Neotropica Monograph 71, 1-35.)A

Discussion

  • As mentioned above (see Roystonea maisiana), mixed materials in the type collection of R. violacea have hindered our understanding of this species. The above description draws heavily on collections made by the author in 1990 (Zona, 1991).
    The staminode, fruit, and seed illustrated by León (1943: pI. 1,) belong to R. maisiana, as does the fruit illustrated by Bailey (1949). Bailey's illustration of the flower appears to be correctly identified. Regrettably, botanical collections are still so incomplete that I cannot say if the prophylls illustrated by León (1943) in his plate 1, are properly identified.
    The specimen and seeds collected by J. M. Leiva in Imías and distributed under the number Zona & Leiva 396 were misidentified. Molecular analysis shows that this collection is not R. violacea; it appears to be nothing other than R. regia. (Zona, S. 1996. Roystonea.(Arecaceae: Arecoideae). Flora Neotropica Monograph 71, 1-35.)A

Common Name

  • Palma criolla azul, palma morada, palma roja. (Zona, S. 1996. Roystonea.(Arecaceae: Arecoideae). Flora Neotropica Monograph 71, 1-35.)A

Uses

  • Like all Cuban Roystonea, this species is used for timber, thatch, and hog feed. (Zona, S. 1996. Roystonea.(Arecaceae: Arecoideae). Flora Neotropica Monograph 71, 1-35.)A

Description

  • Trunk mauve-brown to mauve-gray, to 15 m tall, ca. 34 cm diam.
    Leaves ca. 15, lowest leaves hanging well below the horizontal; crownshaft ca. 2 m long; petiole ca. 80 cm long; rachis 3.2-3.6 m long; middle segments 95-104 cm long and 3.7-4 cm wide. Inflorescence ca. 1.3 m long and 1 m wide; prophyll 40-42 cm long and 12-13 cm wide, peduncular bract ca. 1.2 m long. widest above middle, apex acuminate; rachillae 17- 20 cm long and 1.4-2 mm diam. Staminate flowers violet, darker toward the base of the petals and filaments; sepals triangular, ca. 0.9 mm long and 1.2 mm wide; petals ovate, ca. 5.1 mm long and 2.9 mm wide; stamens 6, ca. 5.8 mm long; filaments awl-shaped, ca. 3.7 mm long; anthers ca. 3.7 mm long, purple; pistillode minute. Pistillate flowers violet, 2-2.5 per cm; sepals reniform, ca. 1.2 mm long and 3.3 mm wide; petals ovate, coriaceous, ca. 3 mm long; staminode shallowly 6-lobed, ca. 2.3 mm long, free for ca. 1.2 mm; gynoecium ca. 2.4 mm long and 2.5 mm diam.
    Fruits spheroid to ellipsoid, 12-13.7 mm long, 8.1-9 mm dorsiventral thickness, and 7.8-8.5 mm wide; epicarp brown to black, stigmatic scar plain; endocarp ellipsoid, fragile, 7.8-8.5 mm long, 5.9-6.6 mm dorsiventral thickness, and 6.2-6.5 mm wide; seed dorsiventrally compressed ellipsoid, 5.8-9.3 mm long, 4.3-5.3 mm dorsiventral thickness, and 5.3-6 mm wide; raphe circular. Eophyll linearlanceolate. exstipitate, weakly costatc. (Zona, S. 1996. Roystonea.(Arecaceae: Arecoideae). Flora Neotropica Monograph 71, 1-35.)A

Materials Examined

  • CUBA. GUANTÁNAMO: Los Llanos SE of Baracoa, Leon 18281 (GH), León 18196 (HAC), León & Seifriz 18198 (HAC). Mpio. La Moquina: Between El Ceiba and La Maquina, near Río Maya, Zona & Moreno 397 (FLAS); El Cayo, between Sabana and La Moquina, near Río Maya, Zona et al. 394 (FLAS, HAIB, RSA); Cuesta de Mirabel, León 20430 (HAC); Mesa de Mirabel, León 19029 (HAC); Mesa de la Patana, León 18564 (GH, HAC). (Zona, S. 1996. Roystonea.(Arecaceae: Arecoideae). Flora Neotropica Monograph 71, 1-35.)A

Bibliography

    A. Zona, S. 1996. Roystonea.(Arecaceae: Arecoideae). Flora Neotropica Monograph 71, 1-35.
    B. World Checklist of Arecaceae