Copernicia Fallaensis the Greatest Fan Palm of Them All
Copernicia fallaensis The Greatest Fan Palm of Them All Donald R. Hodel, Raúl Verdecia Pérez, Duanny Suárez Oropesa, Milián Rodríguez Lima, and Leonel A. Mera In a perfect world, with the luxury and gestalt, where the whole entity is more than capability to construct the ultimate, and different from the sum of its parts. Many quintessential fan palm as we so desired, we have seen it but, so overtaken with emotion, would not have strayed far, if at all, from our most are unable to describe its unparalleled goal by choosing as our prototype the grandeur, yet all immediately recognize, splendid, monumental, and incomparable understand, and appreciate it. This palm Cuban endemic Copernicia fallaensis. Yes, greatly moved us during field work in Cuba fan palms like Bismarckia nobilis, Corypha in March and April of 2016 as part of a larger umbraculifera or C. utan, project to produce a monograph on Cuban Johannesteijsmannia perakensis, Lodoicea palms; so here we attempt to share and extoll maldivica, Mauritiua flexuosa, and Sabinaria its essence and attributes. magnifica, among a few others, would be worthy contenders, but none has the History combination of characters that sets C. Frère Léon (Brother Léon or in fallaensis apart. The solitary, colossal habit; Spanish Hermano Léon) (1871-1955), strong, straight, robust, white trunk, like a famous French-born Cuban botanist and De marble column comprising the colonnade of La Salle Brother, named and described the Greek Parthenon; stunning, full, dense Copernicia fallaensis in 1931 (León 1931), canopy of huge, flat, rigid, rounded, grayish basing this fabulous species on material that leaves; and full-sun, dryish, open-forest Cervera had collected at Ranchuelo near habitat make for an especially imposing and Falla, hence the specific epithet, in Ciego de majestic specimen, one that has few rivals Ávila province.
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