1969] READ: NEW COLPOTHRINAX 13 Colpothrinax Cookii-A New Species from Central America ROBERT W. READ National Research Council Visiting Research Associate, Department 0/ Botany, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C." In an unpublished manuscript found a distinctly new genus as was thought among some palm specimens in the by Dr. Cook; rather it is a second spe­ United States National Herbarium, Dr. cies of the formerly monotypic Cuban O. F. Cook, formerly of the Bureau of genus Colpothrinax, a genus which Cook Plant Industry, wrote: "An unknown himself maintained as quite distinct from fan palm was found in March, 1902, in a the Polynesian genus Pritchardia as do very mountainous district in the depart­ I, in opposition to the conclusions of ment of Alta Vera Paz in eastern Guate­ Beccari and Rock (Memoirs of the Ber­ mala. The same place was visited again nice P. Bishop Museum 8(1) :1-77. in May, 1904., when additional speci­ 1921). A comparison of some of the mens and photographs were secured.... more obvious differences to be seen in The new palm proved difficult to classify herbarium material is given in Table 1. and seemed to have very little affinity with any other group of palms previ­ Colpothrinax Cookii R. W. Read, ously described from North America." sp. nov. Dr. Cook considered the new palm as Palma 7-8 m. alta, trunco erecto representing a distinct genus and was columnari ca. 35 cm. in diam.; foliorum preparing to publish this new monotypic vaginae apex adversus petiolum longis­ genus in the year 1913. Although the simus linguiformis (ca. 75-100 cm. paper reached the page-proof stage in longus), in fibras tenues pendulas tan­ one journal it was withdrawn from pub­ dem solutus; rachillae dense hirsutae; lication for some unknown reason and Horum calyces hirtelli, petala persisten· recommended for a different journa!. tia; fructus ca. 20-22 mm. in diam. Dr. Cook then revised his manuscript, Trunk columnar, 7-8 m. high, ca. 35 added an analytical key, and elaborated cm. in diam. above the base, tapering on what he considered related genera. just below the crown to about 10 cm. This second manuscript was scheduled in diam., "increasing gradually in thick­ for publication in 1914 but, again, did ness with age" becoming "attenuate, not appear and has thus remained longitudinally ridged and fissured" (0. among the specimens of this undescribed F. Cook), clothed when young with an species for the past 55 years. abundance of persistent, coarsely woven Critical studies of the Guatemalan col­ fibers derived from deterioration of the lections and manuscript, and compari­ leaf sheath; youthful but mature plants sons with other known taxa have left no with the upper trunk obscured by ex­ doubt that an undescribed species is in­ ceedingly long, fine, pendulous sheath volved. However, it does not represent fibers: crown of 20-30 leaves; leaf sheath of young plants tubular, 50-75 * All photographs courtesy of the U. S. Na­ tional Herbarium, Smithsonian Institution. cm. long, with the apical margin very 14 PRINCIPES [Vol. 13 1. An immature plant of Colpothrinax Cookii R. W. Read, in the forest of Alta Vera Paz, Guatemala. 1969] READ: NEW COLPOTHRINAX 15 TABLE 1. A compari..son of some of the more obvious differences between Colpothri­ nax and Pritchardia exhibited by herbarium specimens. Colpothrinax Pritchardia Petal lobes Persistent or tardily decid­ Deciduous at anthesis, cori­ uous, fleshy, lightly lacu­ aceous, deeply lacunate nate inside, attached inside, attached only par­ across entire width of the tially across width of the stamen-tube. stamen-tube, with free basal lobes. Calyx Fleshy, nerves lacking. Coriaceous, nerves conspic­ uous. Stamen-tube Equalling or only slightly Greatly exceeding the co­ exceeding the corolla­ rolla-tube in height. tube in height. Anther connective Very narrow, light-colored Broad, dark-colored when when dry. dry. Carpels Completely free. One-half connate externally. Seed With more or less thickened Without thickened or in­ or intruded integument. truded integument. Embryo Lateral. Basal. Number of primary 4-7. 1-2 (-4). inflorescence branches slightly (ca. 3-4 em.) linguiform oppo­ scales like those of the sheath, convex site the petiole, densely lepidote with and densely lepidote abaxially, glabres­ large, coarse, spreading, ferrugineous, cent in age but minutely puncticulate basifixed scales intermixed with lighter­ from the bases of the fallen scales, colored, closely appressed, peltate scales, margins acute, apex continuing into the the former restricted to the sheathing blade abaxially as a short, abruptly nar­ portion and the latter continuous around rowed costa ca. 18--32 em. long, and the thickened petiolar portion, the sheath adaxially as a hastula; hastula triangu­ glabrous inside except below the inser­ lar, acute to sharply apiculate, 2.3-3.0 tion of the petiole where large ferru­ em. long and slightly broader than the gineous scales occur, sheaths of mature petiole, margins thinly chartaceous to plants with progressively longer lingui­ coriaceous, overlapping the blade form apices, these fraying into loose slightly; blade shortly costapalmate, di­ fibrous strands 75-100 em. long which vided into 50-60 segments connate are pendulous among the leaf bases, basally for ca. 113_% their length, each sheaths of very old plants much shorter, trullate in outline, 4.0-5.5 em. wide shaggy; petiole 3-4 m. long on young (measured at the broadest point) cen­ plants, ca. 1.3 m. long on mature plants, trally, and ca. 125 em. long, entire or free portion usually ca. 60-70 em. long, bifid at the apex, lacking fiber strands 2.7-3.0 em. wide at the junction with in the sinus between the segments, the sheath, ca. 2-3 em. wide at the base densely appressed lepidote when unex­ of the hastula, shallowly concave and panded, the scales somewhat persistent densely lepidote adaxially with mixed on the major nerves as the blade expands 16 PRINCIPES [Vol. 13 to an almost flat but strongly plicate orbicular form, surface, exclusive of major nerves, glabrous adaxially, densely hyaline-Iepidote abaxially. Inflorescences numerous per tree, in­ terfoliar, arcuate from the axils of the lower living leaves, robust, shorter than the petioles, ca. 90-100 (-120) cm. long, the peduncle densely ferrugineous-velu­ tinous, ca. 6 cm. broad at insertion, ab­ ruptly narrowed to ca. 2 cm. and then gradually smaller beyond each node of which there are 15-20, internodes short basally, becoming progressively longer toward the apex, ca. 2-8 cm. long, each node bearing a ferrugineous-squamate tubular bract which encloses the lower portions of the next higher bract and the base of the primary branch including its bracts; lowermost bract (prophyll) of the inflorescence bicarinate, ca. 21 cm. long, glabrous or glabrescent adax­ ial/y; the second bract inserted about 2 cm. above the insertion of the first, tu­ bular with an oblique aperture, sharply pointed and carinate below the point, equally squamate on all sides, the next 5-6 bracts similar to the second but the carina becoming progressively reduced; the first 9 bracts empty and the remain­ der each enclosing a primary branch: primary branches 3-7, ca. 35-40 cm. long, twice-branched with about 15 ra­ chillae, peduncles of the primary branches free from the main rachis nearest the base of the inflorescence but becoming progressively more adnate to the rachis toward the apex of the inflo­ rescence, each peduncle bearing 1-3 tu­ bular secondary bracts (the peduncles and their bracts almost entirely enclosed 2. A closeup of the bud region of a young within the primary bracts), the first plant of Colpothrinax Cookii R. W. Read, secondary bract bicarinate, glabrous showing the long pendulous fibers from the adaxial/y, squamate abaxial/y, much in­ leaf sheath. flated above, acutely pointed apically, almost completely enclosing the second (and third when present) tubular, terete, slightly carinate bract which is usually 1969] READ: NEW COLPOTHRINAX 17 3. Unexpanded leaf blades of Colpothrinax Cookii showing the short costa extending into the abaxial surface; leaf from a young plant on the left. 18 PRINCIPES [Vo!' 13 4. A single primary branch, post anthesis, and the adaxial surface of an unexpanded leaf blade showing the hastula. The inflorescence and the leaf on the left are from the type collection, Cook & Griggs 116. 1969] READ: NEW COLPOTHRINAX 19 5. Inflorescences from the type collection of Colpothrinax Cookii R. W. Read, the one on the left with all the bracts and primary branches removed. 20 PRINCIPES [Vol. 13 6. Immature fruit still attached to the primary branch of Cook & Doyle 163, collected two years later but in the same locality as the type of Colpothrinax Cookii. 1969] READ: EW COLPOTHRINAX 21 more densely squamate abaxially, or if the raphe, which extends from the base the ultimate then densely squamate on to apex (Cook wrote that the raphe was all sides, each division of the primary "strongly fibrous" but only weak fibers, branch subtended by a smaller non­ when rarely present, have been seen); sheathing bract but the division some­ endosperm homogeneous; embryo lat­ times adnate to the rachis of the branch eral opposite the raphe, indicated by a for some distance above the bract, all distinct prominence on the testa. axes densely ferrugineous-hirsute, each Vernacular name. In the original rachilla 6-15 cm. long, 3-4 mm. thick, manuscript Cook wrote: "The native with 15-30 widely spaced flowers ca. name of the palm in the Kekchi language 3-4 mm. apart, the floral scars conspic­ is 'xan.', or 'shan', the letter 'x' being uous when dryas slightly raised areas the usual equivalent of 'sh' in Spanish subtended by a minute, narrowly trian­ transliterations of the Mayan languages.