PALM S Duno & Moya: Coccothrinax readii Vol. 58(2) 2014

RODRIGO DUNO DE STEFANO Herbario CICY, A New Unidad de Recursos Naturales, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A. C (CICY) Record of Calle 43. No. 130. Col. Chuburná de Hidalgo, Coccothrinax 97200 Mérida, Yucatán, México [email protected] readii for AND

CELIO E. M OYA Gemini Botanical Garden, [email protected]

Coccothrinax readii is recorded for Belize for the first time.

Coccothrinax readii was described by Hermilio two . However, we believe that C. readii J. Quero (1980) following a study of the palms is also morphologically similar to C. argentata of the Yucatan Peninsula, , based on (Jacq.) L.H. Bailey. The goal of our study was thorough collecting throughout the entire to confirm the presence of the in Belize region. Among the collected material there and to determine if this country harbors C. was a medium sized solitary palm with palmate argentata or C. readii . leaves that had silver color on the abaxial leaf During a short visit to the Shipstern Nature surface. These individuals had entire petiole Reserve (7 and 8 April 2013) (located in bases, and their stems were covered by a fiber northern Belize in the Corozal District) we layer forming a grid pattern (Fig. 1). This new located nine individuals of C. readii (four on palm species described by Quero (1980) grows the Botanical Trail, three on the Thompson in Mexico along the northern coast of Yucatan Trail, and two in the Eastern Survey Line). A from the eastern coast of to the second report for this species in the Orange Chetumal Bay (Fig. 2). Several historical Walk District of Belize could not be confirmed, collections from the late 19 th and early 20 th but J. Meerman (pers. comm.) indicated that centuries ( Gaumer 23350 , Schott 293 , 721 ) were this is an erroneous record, possibly associated originally assigned to argentea Lodd. ex with stauracantha (Heynh.) R. Schult. & Schult.f. (Millspaugh 1898) or C. Evans, a species that also received the name of argentea (Lodd. ex Schult. & Schult.f.) Sarg. ex Cryosophila argentea Bartlett in Belize. Meerman Becc. (Standley 1930). (pers. comm.) confirmed that C. readii also In Mexico, C. readii grows in dense stands in grows in northern Ambergris Caye in Bacalar coastal dune scrub along the Yucatan coast Chico National Park (Corozal District). (Fig. 1) and is less abundant in the lowland Coccothrinax readii H.J. Quero R., Principes flooded or semi-deciduous forest along 24: 118. 1980. Quintana Roo. Quero (1980) considered this species to be taxonomically similar to C. We are certain that the wild populations of jamaicensis Read, and he enumerated a long list Coccothrinax located on the Shipstern Nature of morphological traits that differentiate the Reserve belong to the argentata group of the

72 PALMS 58(2): 72 –76 PALM S Duno & Moya: Coccothrinax readii Vol. 58(2) 2014

ACB

D E F

G H 1. Coccothrinax readii . A. Adult individuals of 5 or 6 m in height with their characteristic glaucous undersides of the leaves, in semi-deciduous forest of Quintana Roo, near Caobas. B. Details of the entire petiole bases covered by a fiber forming a grid. C. Detail of the abaxial surface of the sheath. D. Detail of the glaucous abaxial surface of the leaves. E. The palm in the coastal dunes of Yucatan, next to Celio Moya. F. Adult individual two meters high in the semi-deciduous forest of the department of Corozal (Belize), beside it, José Alvarado (left) and Lester Delgado (right), Shipstern Nature Reserve. G. General view of the coastal dune scrub in Yucatan. H. General view of the semi-deciduous forest, note on the right the trunk of a medium size of Manilkara zapota (Sapodilla) at Shipstern Nature Reserve.

73 PALM S Duno & Moya: Coccothrinax readii Vol. 58(2) 2014

C. argentata complex (Nauman & Sanders 1991). This group includes eight species from which we discarded three species (i.e., C. i

i fragrans Burret, C. inaguensis Read and C. d 3 2 4 6 e a 5 victorini León) because they have lamina z . 1 1 4 7 2 e d i r i – – – – l 5 1 6

f . i e – 0 – 3 5 2 – abaxially green or gray-green with indu- 3 1 B 8 3 4 2 5 B C mentum or deciduous or absent. Table 1 provides details pertinent to the morphological traits of the remaining five species of this group .

e (i.e., C. argentata , C. jamaicensis , C. litoralis z ) i l

5 León, C. proctorii Read and C readii ; for the last . )

5 e i . 9 5 i B . ( o

7 we include data from from Belize). For

d

c 5 4 0 0 a i ( 5 8 o . . 5 7 3

e m C. argentata , data are from Nauman and d t x r i

– – – 6 6 5 o

e f . i p r – – 9 0 3 – Sanders (1991); for the other species we con- f 2 u B 3 3 4 1 3 M C i

i sulted the original descriptions in León (1939), d Quero (1980), Read (1963) and Read (1980). a e

r Coccothrinax readii is a distinctive species with

) . 4 . C a very thin trunk (like C. argentata ), a bifid 5 ( 0 i d

r hastula (a diagnostic character) and with the 3 d n 4 o i – t – a f 0 8

c i segment to palman length ratio of 2.8–3.0 1 8 0 1 o

b p

r )

0 4 1

) (similar to C. jamaicensis ). u t p 5 – – 1

. 5 o o . – 9 0 r 0 1 ( 5 N ? 3 6 ( ? C

g Distribution : In Mexico and

a the genus is present only in the Yucatan t a

t Peninsula (Quero, 1980). It does not occur in n

e (Standley & Steyermark 1958), g r Nicaragua (Steven et al. 2001), a s i d l x i (Hammel et al. 2004) or Panama (Correa et al. a f 0 r a i o 5 0 0 0 b n 2004). Spellman et al. (1975), Balick et al. t

i 4 1 4 2 i t r l – – – – 3 3

o (2000) and Govaerts and Dransfield (2012) did . h – – 0 0 0 5 t 1 2 N 4 4 7 2 1 C

o not include the genus in Belize. However, it c c seems that these authors were not aware of o C

work by Standley and Record (1936), who e s i

h reported C. argentea for this country, although s t )

n 6 8 f

e without locality (probably in the northern 0 3 c 1 o d 2 2 i (

i – .

– a f plains). Meerman (1993), in his floristic list of s 2 9 6 i 5 4 e 8 0 – 1 . m i b 1

the Shipstern Nature Reserve, mentioned that 3 1 2 6 a c ) – t j

– – 4 e

) 5 ) 1 o . . – 5 0 C. readii was likely to occur in this area. Five p 1 1 5 ( 4 N 2 3 5 ( ( C s

years later, Bijleved (1998) confirmed e v

i Meerman’s (1993) expectations and reported f

f four individuals of C. argentata for Belize o (Corozal District). In Honduras, C. jamaicensis s a r ) t e 0 ) is also present in Swan Islands, about 250 a t t d 7 0 3 c i ( n f 2

1 kilometers northeast of the Honduras

a i e (

r 4 0

g b o r a

4 5 5 mainland (Nelson & Proctor 1994). t t a

– – h 3 1 o . p c – 5 0 – Summarizing, C. readii occurs in Mexico

1 ? N ? 1 3 4 u C l

a (Quintana Roo and Yucatan States) and Belize c ) i ) (Corozal Department), and C. argentata sensu g

m m s o t l c

y stricto does not occur in either of these two m ( t n ( o

i

s e r t h countries. i p ) ) u ) p i m t u ) t r g r m

m a m f o e c m Material examined : Belize: Distrito Corozal:

d c s ( m m c (

n n

m ( ( f i

t r Carretera Chunox-Sarteneja, 6 km antes de a h

a e a r t e h h e

h t t t t g l

t Sarteneja y pasando el centro de visitantes de s x e

m g g

n

g e e o f n n e m n

p la Reserva Natural Shipstern, en el límite l e S e o e

a e

r l a l

i t l :

f

r

oriental de la reserva, en el camino llamado d a a 1 n l e n

l l

h e e b a k t e u u

c “Eastern survey line,” 18°19’10.26”N, l t t i a n m m m s s b e l d g u a a u 88°10’39.42”W, 2 msnm, (fr., pasada), 8 abril a e a r h e P H H S N S P T T 2013, R. Duno & C. Moya 2541 (CICY).

74 PALM S Duno & Moya: Coccothrinax readii Vol. 58(2) 2014

names and uses. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 85: 1–246.

BIJLEVED , C.F.A. 1998. The Vegetation of Shipstern Nature Reserve (Corozal District, Belize, Central America): A Structural and Floristic Approach. International Tropical Conservation Foundation, 136 pp.

CORREA , A.M.D., C. G ALDAMES AND M. S ÁNCHEZ DE STAPF . 2004. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Panamá. Universidad de Panamá, Panamá.

GOVAERTS , R. AND J. D RANSFIELD . 2012. World Checklist of . Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/ (accessed 02 May 2013)

HAMMEL , B.E., M.H. G RAYUM , C. H ERRERA AND N. ZAMORA (eds.). 2004. Manual de plantas de Costa Rica vol. II. Gimnospermas y monocotiledóneas (Agavaceae–Musaceae). Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 92: 1–694.

LEÓN , H . 1939. Contribución al estudio de las 2. The distribution (shaded) of Coccothrinax readii in palmas de . III Género Coccothrinax . Belize and Mexico. Memorias de la Sociedad Cubana de Historia Natural “Felipe Poey” 13: 107–156 + 21 Tabs. Vegetation: The community of the Shipstern Nature Reserve corresponds to a MEERMAN , J.C . 1993. Provisional annotated deciduous forest with species such as checklist of the flora of the Shipstern Nature Beaucarnea pliabilis (Asparagaceae), Bursera Reserve. Occasional Papers of the Belize simaruba (Burseraceae), Gliricidia maculata Natural History Society 2(2): 8–36. (Fabaceae), (Arecaceae) and MILLSPAUGH , C.F . 1898. Contribution III to the Vitex gaumeri (Lamiaceae) as well as elements Coastal and Plain Flora of Yucatan. Field of a more evergreen forest like Manilkara zapota Columbian Museum, Botanical Series 1(4): (Sapotaceae) and also species of the coastal 340–410. dune scrub like Bravaisia tubiflora (Acanthaceae). The flora and vegetation of the NAUMAN , C.E. AND R.W. S ANDERS . 1991. Pre- whole reserve was assessed by Meerman (1993) liminary classificatory studies in Coccothrinax and Bijleveld (1998). (Palmae: ). Selbyana 12: 91–101. Acknowledgments This work was funded by CICY Initiative NELSON , C. AND G.R. P ROCTOR . 1994. Vascular project 1039300012. The authors acknowledge plants of the Swan Islands of Caspar Bijleveld, director Papiliorama Honduras. Brenesia 41–42: 73–80. Foundation, for all his advice. Thanks are also QUERO R., H.J. 1980. Coccothrinax readii , a new due to Heron Moreno, director of Corozal species from the Peninsula of Yucatan, Sustainable Future Initiative (CSFI), for logistic Mexico. Principes 24: 118–124. support, and to Lester Delgado and José Alvarado, for field assistance. We thank Dr. READ , R.W . 1966. Coccothrinax jamaicensis . The Javier Francisco-Ortega and Paul Craft, who Jamaican silver thatch. Principes 10: critically reviewed the manuscript. 133–141. LITERATURE CITED READ , R.W . 1980. Notes on palmae. 1. BALICK , M.J., M. N EE AND D.E. A THA . 2000. A [Coccothrinax proctorii , Cayman Islands]. checklist of the flora of Belize, with common Phytologia 46: 285–287.

75 PALM S Dransfield: Palm Literature Vol. 58(2) 2014

SPELLMAN , D.L., J.D. D WYER AND G. D AVIDSE . STANDLEY , P.C. AND S.J. R ECORD . 1936. Forest and 1975. A list of the Monocotyledonae of Flora of . Field Museum of Belize – including a historical introduction Natural History, Botany Series 12, 432 p. to plant collecting in Belize. Rhodora 77: STEVENS , W.D., C. U LLOA , A. P OOL AND O.M. 105–140 MONTIEL (ed.). 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. STANDLEY , P.C . 1930. Flora of Yucatan. Field Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Museum of Natural History, Botany Series 3: Missouri Botanical Garden 85: 192–229. 157–492.

STANDLEY , P.C. AND J.A. S TEYERMARK . 1958. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana, Botany 24: 196–299.

PALM LITERATURE

SYSTEMATICS, Each species is represented by a double page ECOLOGY AND MAN- spread with text on the left hand side – local AGEMENT OF RAT- names, brief descriptions, distribution and TANS IN CAMBODIA, habitat, flowering and fruiting behavior and LAOS AND VIETNAM. uses, and facing it on the right hand page a THE BIOLOGICAL map and three diagnostic photos, usually BASES OF SUS- illustrating sheathed stem, leaf and some part TAINABLE USE – of reproductive material. Chapter III discusses Charles M. Peters and rattan ecology, presenting data on the density, Andrew Henderson size-class distribution and annual growth of with contributions selected species and conservation assessments. from Nguyen Quoc Chapter IV provides data collection protocols Dong and Thibault and analyses required to define a sustainable Ledecq. WWF/IKEA/NYBG. 2014. Pp. 234, harvest of wild rattan, together with a numerous maps and color photographs discussion of impact monitoring and periodic throughout. Agricultural Publishing House. harvest adjustments. Chapter V examines the “Not for sale” – available as a free digital future of the rattan trade in the region. The download at http://wwf.panda.org/who_ authors boldly claim that the book is unique we_are/wwf_offices/laos/newsrom/?216070 in addressing all these aspects of rattan in a /wwf-launches-first-ever-book-on-mekong- single volume. rattan-species The press release for the book cited above (and This attractive book, available in English, the source of a free digital download) makes Khmer, Vietnamese and Lao language versions, a bold statement – “the first ever book on aims to help both naturalists and those in the Mekong rattan species” – that invites closer rattan industry to identify rattan species, while scrutiny. First ever? Surely not! The book is providing guidance in maximizing yields and pre-empted by Evans et al. (2001) Field Guide achieving sustainable production of rattan to the Rattans of Lao PDR published in English resources. It is really useful to have so much and Lao. Although the Lao book’s title suggests information on Indochinese rattans available it covers just the Lao PDR, it covers the entire in a single volume. The book is divided into area of Lao PDR, Vietnam and Cambodia and five chapters. Chapter I provides a brief neighboring parts of China and Thailand and description of the region and major biophysical includes accounts of 51 species. Where the factors that control rattan distribution and earlier book differs is that it lacks the species abundance, and also a brief outline of rattan that Henderson and his co-workers have trade. Chapter II, the botanical foundation of described from the region since 2001 and also the work, is a field guide to the rattans of lacks the material on ecology, data collection Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and includes a protocols and trade and harvest. At one point dichotomous key to 65 different rattan species. continued on p. 86

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