19771 SHUEYAND WUNDERLIN:RHAPIDOPHYLLUM 47 -The Needle Palm: Rhapidophyllum hystrix Ar-r-riv G. Suunv AND RIcHARDP. Wulvnrnr,ru Conseraation Consuhants, Inc., Palmetto, Florida 3356I; anil Depa.rtment of Biology, Uniuersity ol South Fhrt(a, Tampa, Floida 33620 Rhapidophyllwn is a monotypic palm seed is planted until a marketable plant genus endemic to the southeastern is produced, thus not making it eco- United States. Its single species, R. nomically febsible for nurseries to grow hystrix (Fig. I), is commonly referred it from seed. to as the needle palm. Other names Rhapid,ophyllunz is on the rare and which have been used are blue pal- endangered plant species list for the metto (Elliott, 1817), creeping palmetto United States as a threatened species (Small, 1923), vegetable porcupine which is commercially exploited. Dur- (Small, L923), dwarf saw palmetto ing the late I800's and early 1900's, this (Moore, 1963), and spine palm (Mitch- palm was commercially exploited by ell, 1963). foliage shippers. Whole crowns were In the United States, the needle palm cut off and shipped north for use as is cultivated to a limited extent both decoration in homes. This has been within and outside its natural range. called to our attention by Harper It is very cold hardy, having been suc- (1906) who lamented the exploitation cessfully grown out of doors as far north o{ this pabn in the vicinity of Ever- as Virginia arl0 Tennessee (Popenoe, green, Alabama. Later, Harper (1928) L973). related that the species has been ex- Outside the United States, R. hystrix terminated in the Evergreen area. To- has been successfully grown in the day the exploitation continues, but is Black Sea region of the Soviet Union through the nursery trade. (Saakov, 1963) and on the French Riv- This paper is for a large part the iera (Barry, 196I). result of the senior author's personal Although Rhapid,ophyllum has gteat observations of both wild and culti- potential as an ornamental because of vated specimensover a five-year period. its attractiveness, ability to withstand Field observations were made through- Ireezing temperatures, and ease of out much of the range of the sptjcies maintenance, it is rare in the nursery in Florida with the more critical and trade. Only recently has it begun to detailed observations made on a pop- to be used in public and private land- ulation near Oviedo, Seminole County, scaping. Most plants found in the nurs- Florida. ery trade and in cultivation have been taken from the wild. This is probably Tqxonomic History due, at least in part, to the fact that Rhapid,ophyllum,is a monotypic genus seeds are slow to germinate and the of coryphoid palms in the Trithrinax plant is very slow growing. It takes unii of the Trithrinax alliance (Moore, from {our to six years from the time L973). This unit also includes the gen- PRINCIPES lVor.. 2l l.Rhapid,ophyllum hystrix near Oviedo, Seminole Counry, Florida. s era Tra,chycarpus and, Chamaerops in ingly created the monotypic genus ,Rfra- addition to Trithrinax and Rhapid,o- pidophyllum. phyllwm. Small (1923) states that the species Small (1923) presenteda fairly com- has been placed in two other genera in plete and accurate taxonomic history of addition to those previously discussed, Rhapid,ophyllurl so only a few points Corypha and. Rhapis, although he does need to be touched on here in summa- not elaborate. tion and for clarification. Dahlgren ( 1936), and later Glass- In 1814, Frederick Pursh described man (1972), give Rhapis arund,inacea the speciesfrom material collected near Ait. (Hort. Kew. ed. I, 3: 474. l7B9) Savannah, Georgia by John Fraser sev- and.Rhapis caroliniana Hort. ex Kunth eral years earlier, and placed it in the (Enun. Pl.3:246. l84l) as synonyms genus Chamaerops. In lBlB, Thomas oI Rhapi.d,ophyllum hystix. From Ai- Nuttall, apparently having seen only ton's protologue of Rhapis qwndina,cea, sterile material, transferred it to the it is immediately obvious that the plant genus Sabal because of its superficial described is not Rhapid,ophyllum hys- resemblance to S. ad,arconii (= S. mi- trix. zor). Finallyo in L876, Wendland and William Wood (ln Rees, Cycl. 7, n. Drude found that the species could 3. fB07) transferred Aiton's speciesto not be satisfactorily accommodated in Chamacrops with no additional clues either Chamaerops or Sabal and accord- to its identity. I9771 SHUEYAND WUNDERLIN:RHAPIDOPHYLLUM 49 Finally, Moore (W75), after having to Pursh by some authors is an error examined the type spbcimen oI Rhapis in citation. arund,inacea in the British Museum In summation, the following nomen- (Natural History), reveded Aiton's spe- clature is to be applied to the needle cies to be based on an a:berrant,juvenile palm: specimen of. Sabal rninor. Rhapidophyllum hyetrix (Pursh) H. Also, Rhapis cololiniaw, the second Wendl. & Drude, Bot. Zeit. 34: 803. Rhapis species placed in synonymy un- L876. der Rhapid,ophyllum hystrix by Dahl- Chamadrops hystrix Pursh, Fl. Amer. gren and Glassman, can also be ex- Sept. I: 240. I8I4. cluded. The name Rhapis cq,roliniq,na Sabal hystrix (Pursh) Nutt., Gen. N. is not found under the discussion of Amer. Pl. 1: 230. 1818. Rhapis which appears on pages 251- 252 oI Kunth (1841). However, on page 246 under the treatment SaboJ Hqbitqt qnd Disiribution (= adarwonii S. minor), the name Sa- Rhapid,ophyllum, hystrix is an un- proposed bal carolinianurn Hort. is in common speciesnative to the southeast- synonymy. If this is the source of ern United States, occurring from Beau- Rhapis caroliniana Hort. ex Kunth, fort County, South Carolina, south to which appears to be the case, this name Hiehlands and Hardee counties, Flor- the must be removed from synonymy ida, and west to Simpson County, south oI Rhapid,ophyllum hystrix and added central Mississippi (Fig. 2). Distribu- Sabal rninor. to that oI tional data are compiled from herbar- validly published name in No Cory- ium specimens, literature, and sight pha can be accredited to R. hystrix. records (pers. comm.). Questionable hystrix DesI. (Tabl. l. Corypha 19. records in the literature which could 1804) is a nornen nud,um and in addi- not be verified with specimens are ex- tion undoubtedf not synonymous with cluded. Rhapid,ophyllwrn hystrix since it is re- Throughout its range, Rhapid'ophyl- ported as a native of South America. Ium is found primarily in low, moist to hystritc (spelled "fris- lilso, Cha,tnaerops wet sites with rich, humus, calcareous (Nom. tix" by Steudel) Desf. ex Steud. clayo or sandy soils in woods, swamps, Bot. ed. 1. I83. 1840. based on Corypha and hammocks (Fig. 3). Less com- hystrix Desf.) is also a nornen nud'um monly, it occurs in limestone sinks, and is accordingly removed from con- grottos, and shaded pinelands. Al- sideration here. though rarely found in full sun and Martius (f$B) provides an excellent well-drained sites in the wild, the spe- description and illustration of the needle cies will thrive in such locations in cul- palm under Chamaerops hystrix. In tivation if sufficient soil moisture is present. addition to Sabal hystrixo Rhapis arun- Specimens occasionally found in the wild on well-drained sites are d,inacea, and Charnaerops arund,inncea, generally smaller and in poorer con- Martius also lists Corypha reperls Battr. dition as compared to those found in in synonymy. The last is now well wetter soils. There does not appear to (Bartr.) known as Serenoa reperls be a specific correlation of soil type Small. witlr the presence oI Rhapid,ophyllurn. Of final note, the crediting of. Cha- However, in the north central part of nxa,eropshystrix to Fraser instead of its range it is generally associatedwith 50 PRINCIPES [Vor. 2l a aaa aa O a o oo o 2. Distribution of. Rhapidoplryllum hystrix. limestone soils. In central Florida. Hurricane Camille in 1969 was a large where the limestone bedrock is over- and beautiful clump in 1973. It ap- lain with sandy soils, Rhapid'ophyllum parently was not severely affected. often occurs in seepageareas along the Rhapidophyllum can be considered edges of the various uplands constitut- locally common or even abundant in ing the central Florida ridge area. some areas within its range, but its Rhapid,ophylhum apparently has a distribution is irregular. It was ob- fairly high degree of salt tolerance, at served to be the dominant understory least for periods of short duration. To species in several Florida hardwood cite a specific example: a cultivated swamps, although it is rarely found specimen in the medial strip of US 90 where it would be highlv competitive near Biloxi, Mississippi, which undoubt- with other species. edly was submerged in salt water by The species does not appear to be r9771 SHUEYAND WUNDERLIN:RHAPIDOPHYLLUM 51 3. Rhapid,ophyllum colony near Oviedo, Seminole County, Florida. I occupying all- the available suitable annually. The reason for this irregu- habitat. Many areas that appear en- larity is not known, but may be due vironmentally identical from visual ob- in part to less than optimum environ- servations to those occupied by Rha- mental conditions. For example,flower- pidophyllwn do not support the species, ing in central Florida populations in even though the occupied and unoc- 1970, a wet year, was good, but since cupied areas are often found quite near 1970 the seasonshave beenconsiderably one another. Also, what appears to be drier and as a result flowering less fre' a uniform habitat is frequently poorly quent and more irregular. However, utilized by the species. Some possible cultivated specimens which appear to reasons for this irregular distribution receive sufficient moisture will also will be discussedlater in this paper. flower irregularly. Although the avail- ability of moisture may play a role in Reproduciive Biology initiating the process, flowering ap- Flowering generally occurs from pears to be physiologically more com- March to August with flowering having plex.