134 PRINCIPES [Vor. 34 Principes,34(3), 1990, pp. 134-I42 ConservationStatus of Haitian Palms Auonnw HTNoERSoN,Mrcnnr AusRy, Joiir TruyeN, AND MTcHAELBALTcK New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458; Ife Hotel, 35 Rue Gregoire, PEtion-uille, Haiti; International Resources Group, Ltd., 52 Rue E. Mangones, Berthe, P4tion-uille, Haiti; and New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY tO458 ABSTRACT Morne La Visite. Unfortunately few palms occur in these parks. Many of the non- The conservationstatus of the l3 genera and 21- 24 species of palms occurring naturally in Haiti is endemic Haitian palms are in cultivation given. Notes on distribution, uses,and common names in Fairchild Tropical Garden and else- are also given. Current conservation efforts are where, but very few of these cultivated reported. palms are of Haitian origin. R6sum6 In I9BB we begana program aimed at the conservation of the rarer species of L'6tat de conservationde 13 eenres et 2l-24 palms in Haiti. Here we report on the espdcesde palmesqui grandissenrnaturellement en conservation status of all Haitian Haiti est donn6e. Des notes sur leur distribution, palms, usages et noms communs sont aussi donn6es. Des as well as on our efforts to conserve the efforts actuels de conservation sont fournis. rarer species. R6zim6 Methods Stati sou konservasion13 genusak 2l-24 espds palm ki pous,6an Ayiti yo, bay isit. Not sou distribision The followingaccount is basedon four yo nan peyia, sa yo f6 av6 yo ak non yo bays yo field trips to Haiti which took place between nan pou proteksion chak zone. Ef6 nou mennen kek November palm. I9B8 and December 1989. During these trips we have mapped pop- ulationsof rarer palms,either on I :50,000 Sinceits discoveryby Columbus:rr'1492 or I:100,000 scale maps. We have the natural environment of Haiti has suf- counted numbers of individuals in rarer fered almost complete destruction. Today populations. We have interviewed local approximately 27o or less of the original people and collected information on uses forest cover remains (Davis et al. 1986, and local names, in both French and Cre- Paryski and Woods l9B9). ole. We have made herbarium specimens Thirteen genera and between 2l and of most species,and studied Haitian spec- 24 speciesof palmsoccur naturally in Haiti, imens in the herbaria in Port-au-Prince and up to one quarter of these speciesmay (EHH) and New York (NY), and have be endemic to the country. Because of reviewedthe relevant literature. The most environmental destruction many of them recent treatment of the palms of Haiti is' are rare, and the endemic species face that of Barker and Dardeau(1930). extinction. In order to conservepopulations of rarer Two national parks exist in Haiti (Judd palms we have produced a management 1987, Paryski and Woods i9B9); Parc plan for palm conservationin Haiti, based National Pic Macaya and Parc National on Attalea crassispatha.We have begun ree0l HENDERSONET AL.: HAITIAN PALMS 135 to carry out someof the recommendations Bactris of the plan, particularly with A. crassispa- A large genus tha and P seudophoenix led,iniana. These with approximately B0 species are discussedbelow. occurring throughout the neotrop- ics. One, Bactris plumeriana Mart. (Fig. 3), occurs in Haiti, and throughout the Acrocomia Caribbean. W'e have seen scattered indi- viduals This genus is now consideredto consist throughout the country in wetter of just two species, one of which, Acro- areas. This species is not used for any (Jacq.) purposebecause of its spines.Its common comia aculeata Lodd. ex Mart., is "coco name in Haiti is spelled macaque" widely distributed from Mexico to Para- 'okoko "ti guay. We have only encountered this in French and makak" or cro- speciesonce in Haiti, near Beaumont (Fig. cro" in Creole. I ) on the Massif de la Hotte, but there are records and specimensto indicate that it Calyptronoma was once widely distribrited, for example A genusof three speciesconfined to the on the Ile de la Tortue. Approximately l0 Greater Antilles. The genus is still in need plants exist at the locality near Beaumont, of study, despite a relatively recent revi- but local people say that the palms were sion(W'essels Boer l968). Two speciesare planted. They do not use the palms for reportedto occur in Hispaniola,C. dulcis anything, except for children who eat the (Wright ex Griseb.) Bailey and C. riualis seeds.The common name of this palm in "coco (Cook) Bailey. Apparently only C. riualis Haiti is spelled guin6e" or oocorosse" o'koko occurs in Haiti. We have seen one very in French, and ginen" "kawos" or small population consisting of approxi- in Creole. mately 30 adult plants near Saut d'Eau (Fig. ). The young, unexpanded, leaves Attalea are used for weaving and the older leaves are used for thatch. This palm occurs in One species,Attalea crassispatha very wet ground, either at the edges of (Mart.) Burret, is endemic (Hen- to Haiti streams or in marshy areas. It is known derson and Aubry 'opalma." 1989). A total of 26 locallyas Dransfieldet al. (1988) individual trees of this specieshave now list this speciesas vulnerable. been located. All trees are in the southern peninsula, and most are either near Fond des Negres or Cavaillon (Fig. 2). During Coccothrinax 1989 six trees fruited, and in August we A very poorly known genus with up to collectedapproximately 500 seeds.These 49 describedspecies, 34 of them from were distributed to two nurseries in Haiti, Cuba (Uhl and Dransfield I9B7). Bailev and the rest were distributed to various (1939b) reportedthat 6 specie,o"".rr."i Botanical Gardensthrough Fairchild Trop- in Haiti; Coccothrinaxargentea, (Lodd. ex ical Garden in Florida, and to other Schult.)Sarg. ex Becc., C. concolor Bur- researchers. Seedshave now germinated ret, C. eltrnaniiBurret, C. gracilis Burret, both in Haiti and in Florida. C. montana Burret, and C. spisso Bailey, The common name of this palm in Haiti A seventhspecies, C. scoparia Becc. also ooc6rossi6" "petit is spelled or coco" in occurs there. "kawosie" "ti French and or koko" in Coccothrinax argentea is very variable Creole. Dransfieldet al. (1988) list this and occurs throughout the country in a speciesas endangered(note that Dransfield great variety of habitats, but always on et al. list this speciesunder Orbignya sp.). calcareoussoil and on mountain slopes.It 34 r36 PRINCIPES lvor. Attalea crassispatha near cavaillon' The L. Acrocomia aculeata near Beaumont, Massif de la Hotte. 2. by a woodpecker, Sphyrapicus^oarius' 3' Bactris plumeriana near tol"tit th" peduncular' bracts are made Cavaillon. 4' Calyptronoma riaalis near Saut d'Eau' r990l HENDERSONET AL.: HAITIAN PALMS t37 is very common in parts of the southern the population was recently destroyed. peninsula(Fig. 5) up to elevationsof I , 100 Other small populations occur near Go- m where rainfall is near 2,000 mm per nai'ves.The greatestnumber of individuals year. Converselyit also occurs in very arid we have seenoccur betweenLa Jeune and areas, for example near Gonaives, where Pignon in the Dep. du Centre (Fig. 6). rainfall is near 600 mm per year. Further Coperniciaberteroana occurs on flat land, study of this speciesmay reveal that sev- often on saline soils, where rainfall is eral speciesor sub-speciesactually exist. between600 and I,000 mm per year. It "dyar6," The leavesof C. argenteo are very widely is locally known near La Jeuneas used to weave hats, saddles, and make and the leaves are used for thatchine. brooms and other articles. The common The secondspecies, Copernicia ekianii name of this palm in Haiti is spelled Burret is endemic to Haiti. It is very dif- "gouane, latanier sayanne, latanier mar- ferent from C. berteronanobecause of its ron, latanier bourique, palme coyau" in bluish leaveswhich have a waxy coating. "gwenn, French, and latanye savann, This speciesis reported to occur on the latanye maron, Iatanyebourik, palm koyo" northern coast of Haiti, between Port-de- in Creole. Paix and M6le St. Nicolas,on rocky shores There are two other distinct speciesof near the sea.This regionreceives between Coccothrinax in Haiti, neither of which 600 and 1,000 mm of rain per year. We we haveseen despite searching. Coccothri- have seen only one plant of this species, nax ekmanii is reportedby Bailey (1947) near Guinaud6e,Dep. du Nord Ouest,and to occur in extreme southeastern Haiti, this was apparently cultivated. The palm "homme near Anse-i-Pitres, where it is called is locally known as de paille" or "gwenn" "jambe "om "gouane" (French) or (Creole). de paille" (French), and de "jamm It doesoccur over the border in adjacent pay" or de pay" (Creole). The areas of the Dominican Republic. Coc- Ieaves are reported to be a very durable cothrinax spissa is reported by Bailey and soughtalter thatch. (I939b) to occur in Haiti. The two other specieslisted by Bailey Geonoma (1947) for Haiti (Coccothrinax concolor Anotherlarge neotropical genus, occur- and C. gracilis) are probably synonyms ring throughout Central and South Amer- of C. argentea.Coccothrinax cf . rnonta,na ica, Geonoma oxyc(rrpa Mart. has an is reported by Judd (1987) to occur in unusual distribution. It occurs in Central Parc NationalPic Macaya. RogerSanders America from Mexico to Colombia, and (pers. comm.) believesthis palm may be also in Haiti. We have seen this species C. scoparia. Barker and Dardeau(1930) "latanier only in one tiny locality at 900 m elevation give balai" as the common name where a few seedlings exist in a shady of this species. gully, in the Massif de la Hotte (Fig. 7). "palm." Locally it is called It must have Copernicia had a much wider distribution in the past, becausethe type locality is near Port-de- This genus contains approximately 25 Paix, in the north of the country.