Coccothrinax gundlachii León (1939: 149)

Henderson, Andrew, 2023, A revision of Coccothrinax, Hemithrinax, Leucothrinax, Thrinax, and Zombia (Arecaceae), Phytotaxa 614 (1), pp. 1-115 : 53-54

1.18. Coccothrinax gundlachii León (1939: 149) .

Lectotype (designated by Moya 2020):— CUBA. Oriente , El Dean, costa al sur del Pico Turquino, July 1935, Roig, Acuña & Bucher 6725 (lectotype HAC!, isolectotypes A!, BH!, MICH n.v., MICH image!, MT n.v., US!)

Stems length, diameter, and branching not recorded. Leaves more or less deciduous or only leaf bases persisting on stem; leaf sheath fibers 1.4(0.6–2.9) mm diameter, stout, woody, loosely woven, ± joined or briefly free at the apices; petioles 15.0(11.6–17.4) mm diameter just below the apex; palmans 18.1(13.5–26.5) 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 40(33–45) per leaf, the middle ones 72.1(51.5–92.0) cm long and 3.6(2.8–4.7) 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, densely indumentose abaxially, with irregularly shaped, persistent, interlocking, fimbriate hairs, each one with a rounded, raised, light green to greenish-brown center, without transverse veinlets. Inflorescences erect amongst or above the leaves, with numerous partial inflorescences; rachis bracts somewhat flattened, loosely sheathing, usually tomentose with a dense tuft of erect hairs at the apex; partial inflorescences 5; proximalmost rachillae straight, 9.5(6.5–14.0) cm long and 1.2(1.0–1.5) mm diameter in fruit; rachillae glabrous at or near anthesis; stamens 9; fruit pedicels 2.4(1.1–3.7) mm long; fruits 9.1(6.7–10.4) mm long and 9.0(7.1–10.3) mm diameter, reddish-purple or black; 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:— Southeastern Cuba (Granma, Santiago de Cuba) ( Fig. 13 ) on dry, rocky slopes at 188(75–300) m elevation.

Taxonomic notes:— As a preliminary species, Coccothrinax gundlachii has a unique combination of qualitative character states and is recognized as a phylogenetic species. In the protologue, inflorescences were described as ascending, 160 cm long, and with 8–10 partial inflorescences. No specimen with a complete inflorescence has been seen in the present study, but inflorescences are here scored as erect amongst or above the leaves, with numerous partial inflorescences. Otherwise, all character states are the same as those of C. miraguama . León (1939) placed C. gundlachii in his series Longispadicae subseries Multiramosae .

Figures

FIGURE 13. Distribution of Coccothrinax gracilis, C. gundlachii, C. hioramii, and C. jimenezii