Coccothrinax rigida (Grisebach & Wendland) Beccari (1907: 299)

Henderson, Andrew, 2023, A revision of Coccothrinax, Hemithrinax, Leucothrinax, Thrinax, and Zombia (Arecaceae), Phytotaxa 614 (1), pp. 1-115 : 73

1.31. Coccothrinax rigida (Grisebach & Wendland) Beccari (1907: 299) .

Thrinax rigida Grisebach & Wendland in Grisebach (1866: 221).

Lectotype (designated by Moya 2020):— CUBA. La Catalina near Sagua de Tánamo, no date, C. Wright 3220 (lectotype G n.v., G image!, isolectotypes BH!, FI!, GH!, GOET n.v., GOET image!, HAC n.v., K!, MO n.v., MO image!, P n.v., P image!, YU n.v., YU image!)

Stems length and diameter not recorded, branching not recorded. Leaves not recorded; leaf sheath fibers 0.7 mm diameter, stout, woody, loosely woven, ± joined or briefly free at the apices; petioles 4.0 mm diameter just below the apex; palmans 2.5 cm long, relatively short, with the adaxial veins prominent and terminating in a slight raised ridge and distinct pulvinus; leaf blades not wedge-shaped; segments number not recorded, the middle ones 24.5 cm long and 1.7 cm wide; segments not pendulous at the apices, giving the leaf a flat appearance; middle leaf segments relatively short and broad, abruptly narrowed (shoulder) toward the apex, otherwise parallel-sided, often strongly folded, stiff and leathery, the apices briefly splitting; middle leaf segment apices attenuate; leaf segments not waxy or sometimes with a deciduous, thin layer of wax adaxially, without indumentum, scales, or wax abaxially, without transverse veinlets. Inflorescences curving, arching, or pendulous amongst the leaves, with few to numerous partial inflorescences; rachis bracts somewhat flattened, loosely sheathing, usually tomentose with a dense tuft of erect hairs at the apex; partial inflorescences not recorded; proximalmost rachillae straight, 5.1 cm long and 1.7 mm diameter in fruit; rachillae glabrous at or near anthesis; stamens 7; fruit pedicels 1.9 mm long; fruits 6.0 mm long and 6.8 mm diameter, color not recorded; fruit surfaces smooth or sometimes with projecting fibers; seed surfaces deeply lobed, the lobes running from base of seeds almost to apices.

Distribution and habitat:— Cuba (Holguín) ( Fig. 16 ), habitat and elevation not recorded. Craft (2017) wrote that it occurred on limestone hills.

Taxonomic notes:— As a preliminary species, Coccothrinax rigida has a unique combination of qualitative character states and is recognized as a phylogenetic species. It is notable for its leaf segments without indumentum, scales, or wax abaxially; otherwise it is similar to C. miraguama . León (1939) placed C. rigida in his series Longispadicae section Pauciramosae . However it does not appear to have elongate inflorescences, as do other species in the section.

Figures

FIGURE 16. Distribution of Coccothrinax pseudorigida, C. pumila, C. rigida, and C. salvatoris.