Coccothrinax fagildei Borhidi & Muñiz (1985: 227)

Henderson, Andrew, 2023, A revision of Coccothrinax, Hemithrinax, Leucothrinax, Thrinax, and Zombia (Arecaceae), Phytotaxa 614 (1), pp. 1-115 : 46-48

1.13. Coccothrinax fagildei Borhidi & Muñiz (1985: 227) . Type:— CUBA. Santiago de Cuba, oeste del Río Verraco , 25 April 1984, O . Muñiz , J . Fagilde & B . González 15021 (holotype HAC n.v.)

Stems length not recorded, 5.3 cm diameter, clustered. Leaves more or less deciduous or only leaf bases persisting on stem; leaf sheath fibers 0.9(0.8–1.0) mm diameter, stout, woody, loosely woven, ± joined or briefly free at the apices; petioles 8.5(6.9–10.0) mm diameter just below the apex; palmans 6.0 cm long, relatively short, with the adaxial veins prominent and terminating in a slight raised ridge and distinct pulvinus; leaf blades wedge-shaped; segments 20(18– 22) per leaf, the middle ones 29.5(29.0–30.0) cm long and 2.1(1.9–2.3) cm wide; segments not pendulous at the apices, giving the leaf a flat appearance; middle leaf segments tapering from base to apex, often folded, stiff and leathery, with or without scarcely developed shoulders, the apices sharply pointed and 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 or reddish-brown center, without transverse veinlets. Inflorescences curving, arching, or pendulous amongst the leaves, with few partial inflorescences; rachis bracts somewhat flattened, loosely sheathing, usually tomentose with a dense tuft of erect hairs at the apex; partial inflorescences 3; proximalmost rachillae straight, 4.7 cm long and 0.9 mm diameter in fruit; rachillae glabrous at or near anthesis; stamens 9; fruit pedicels 3.3 mm long; fruits 9.0 mm long and 9.0 mm diameter, color not recorded; fruit surfaces with projecting fibers; seed surfaces deeply lobed, the lobes running from base of seeds almost to apices.

Distribution and habitat:— Cuba (Santiago de Cuba) ( Fig. 12 ) in scrubby woodland on marine terraces and dog’s tooth limestone at 100 m elevation.

Taxonomic notes:— As a preliminary species, Coccothrinax fagildei has a unique combination of qualitative character states and is recognized as a phylogenetic species. It is notable for its clustered stems and wedge-shaped leaves. Moya (2021) reported that the type of C. fagildei is not present at HAC. The only other specimen (Salzman 505) known is from the type locality. The abaxial surface of the segments of this specimen is unusual — it could almost be scored as C. argentata -like. Fruits have not been seen (fruit size is scored from the protologue) but are described in the protologue as covered with “puntos prominulos dense dispuestos ruguloso”.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Distribution of Coccothrinax fagildei, C. fragrans, C. garciana, and C. gonaivensis.