Cryosophila
Encyclopedia
Cryosophila is a genus of medium-sized fan palms which range from central Mexico
to northern Colombia
. They can be readily distinguished from related genera by their distinctive downward-pointing stem-spines
, which are actually modified roots.
(or palmate) leaves and spiny
stems. The stems range in height from 0.5 to 15 m (1.6 to 49.2 ft), with diameters between 4 to 20 cm (1.6 to 7.9 ). Plants have between five and 35 leaves with elongated petioles. The leaves are often whitish-grey on the lower surface. The whitish flowers are bisexual with six stamen
s and three carpels. The fruit are white and smooth, with a single seed.
Cryosophila is distinguished from related genera by its long, branched spines which are derived from modified roots. These downward-pointing spines cover the trunk, often quite densely. The genus is one of the few palms which use modified roots as spines, and its spines are unlike any others in morphology or appearance. The density of spines varies from less than 25 over a 10 cm (3.9 in) length of stem in some species to others where the entire stem is covered by a dense mass of spines.
placed the genus Cryosophila in the subfamily Coryphoideae
, the tribe
Corypheae
and the subtribe Thrinacinae Subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that the Old World
and New World
members of the Thrinacinae were not closely related. As a consequence of this, Cryosophila and related genera were places in their own tribe, Cryosophileae
. Within this tribe, Cryosophila appears to be most closely related to the genus Schippia
.
, Aimé Bonpland
and Carl Sigismund Kunth
in 1816. They named two species, Corypha
nana and Chamaerops
mocini. Although these species were placed in different genera (both of which are now considered to be restricted to the Old World), today they are both thought to represent the same species—Cryosophila nana
. In 1838 or 1839 Carl Ludwig Blume
coined the name Cryosophila specifically for C. nana, but did not actually publish the combination and it was only validated in 1887 with the publication of Blume's combination by Carl E. Salomon in 1887. German botanist Hermann Wendland
established a new genus, Acanthorrhiza, in 1869. He included two species in the genus, A. aculeata, which he transferred from Trithrinax
where it had been placed by Danish botanist Frederik Michael Liebmann
when he described it in 1853, and A. warscewiczii, for which Wendland provided the first description. Acanthorrhiza aculeata was based on a specimen now considered to belong to C. nana, but was defined in such a way that it also included another species, C. stauracantha. It was not until 1935 that American botanist Harley Bartlett realised that A. aculeata was the same as the pair of species that had been described by Kunth.
Both Corypha nana and Chamaerops mocini had been published at the same time in the same work, which meant that Bartlett had to designate a basionym
, the "original" validly published name for the species. Bartlett chose the former, and went on to describe three new species. Paul H. Allen
described two new species in 1953, bringing the total number of species to seven. Based on Randall J. Evans' doctoral dissertation, Henderson and colleagues recognised nine species in the genus, although they expressed the concern that the fragmentation of populations by habitat destruction
may have exaggerated the difference between remaining populations, leading to an overestimate in the number of species. In his 1995 monograph on the genus, Evans recognised 10 species and two subspecies.
, including Cryosophila williamsii
which is, according to the IUCN Red List
, extinct in the wild
. All species are palms of the forest understorey, and nine of the ten species are found in lowland humid or wet forests. The tenth species, C. nana, is a tree of tropical dry forests.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to northern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. They can be readily distinguished from related genera by their distinctive downward-pointing stem-spines
Thorns, spines, and prickles
In botanical morphology, thorns, spines, and prickles are hard structures with sharp, or at least pointed, ends. In spite of this common feature, they differ in their growth and development on the plant; they are modified versions of different plant organs, stems, stipules, leaf veins, or hairs...
, which are actually modified roots.
Description
Cryosophila is a genus of medium-sized, single-stemmed (or rarely multi-stemmed) palms with fan-shapedFan palm
Fan palm as a descriptive term can refer to any of several different kinds of palms in various genera with leaves that are palmately compound...
(or palmate) leaves and spiny
Thorns, spines, and prickles
In botanical morphology, thorns, spines, and prickles are hard structures with sharp, or at least pointed, ends. In spite of this common feature, they differ in their growth and development on the plant; they are modified versions of different plant organs, stems, stipules, leaf veins, or hairs...
stems. The stems range in height from 0.5 to 15 m (1.6 to 49.2 ft), with diameters between 4 to 20 cm (1.6 to 7.9 ). Plants have between five and 35 leaves with elongated petioles. The leaves are often whitish-grey on the lower surface. The whitish flowers are bisexual with six stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s and three carpels. The fruit are white and smooth, with a single seed.
Cryosophila is distinguished from related genera by its long, branched spines which are derived from modified roots. These downward-pointing spines cover the trunk, often quite densely. The genus is one of the few palms which use modified roots as spines, and its spines are unlike any others in morphology or appearance. The density of spines varies from less than 25 over a 10 cm (3.9 in) length of stem in some species to others where the entire stem is covered by a dense mass of spines.
Taxonomy
In the first edition of Genera Palmarum (1987), Natalie Uhl and John DransfieldJohn Dransfield
John Dransfield is an honorary research fellow and former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom, as well as being an authority on the phylogenetic classification of palms....
placed the genus Cryosophila in the subfamily Coryphoideae
Coryphoideae
Coryphoideae is a subfamily of the palm tree family, Arecaceae....
, the tribe
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...
Corypheae
Corypheae
Corypheae is a tribe of palm trees in the subfamily Coryphoideae. The extinct palm Palaeoraphe is placed into the subtribe Livistoninae....
and the subtribe Thrinacinae Subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
and New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
members of the Thrinacinae were not closely related. As a consequence of this, Cryosophila and related genera were places in their own tribe, Cryosophileae
Cryosophileae
Cryosophileae is a tribe of palms in the subfamily Coryphoideae. The tribe ranges from southern South America, through Central America, into Mexico and the Caribbean...
. Within this tribe, Cryosophila appears to be most closely related to the genus Schippia
Schippia
Schippia concolor, the Mountain Pimento or Silver Pimeto, is a medium-sized palm species that is native to Belize and Guatemala. Named for its discoverer, Australian botanist William A. Schipp, the species is threatened by habitat loss....
.
History
The earliest botanical description of the species in the genus were made by Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
, Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland was a French explorer and botanist.Bonpland's real name was Goujaud, and he was born in La Rochelle, a coastal city in France. After serving as a surgeon in the French army, and studying under J. N...
and Carl Sigismund Kunth
Carl Sigismund Kunth
Carl Sigismund Kunth , also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist...
in 1816. They named two species, Corypha
Corypha
Corypha is a genus of six or seven species of palms , native to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, and northeastern Australia...
nana and Chamaerops
Chamaerops
Chamaerops is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae , comprising a single species Chamaerops humilis , representative of the Pre-Pliocene paleo-tropical ancestral lineages in the area.-Distribution:It is the only palm species native to continental Europe...
mocini. Although these species were placed in different genera (both of which are now considered to be restricted to the Old World), today they are both thought to represent the same species—Cryosophila nana
Cryosophila nana
Cryosophila nana is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in Mexico.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* Evans, R. 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
. In 1838 or 1839 Carl Ludwig Blume
Carl Ludwig Blume
Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume was a German-Dutch botanist.He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life working in the Dutch East Indies and in the Netherlands, where he was Director of the Rijksherbarium at Leiden...
coined the name Cryosophila specifically for C. nana, but did not actually publish the combination and it was only validated in 1887 with the publication of Blume's combination by Carl E. Salomon in 1887. German botanist Hermann Wendland
Hermann Wendland
Hermann Wendland was a German botanist and gardener.He was a noted authority on the family Arecaceae , on which he published a major monograph which formed the basis for the modern classification of the family, including many of the generic names currently in use.The South American palm genus...
established a new genus, Acanthorrhiza, in 1869. He included two species in the genus, A. aculeata, which he transferred from Trithrinax
Trithrinax
Trithrinax is a genus of few flowering plants in the Arecaceae family, that belong to the Coryphoideae subfamily, a not very evolved lineage. The name is derived of ancient greek, where tri means three, and thrinax trident...
where it had been placed by Danish botanist Frederik Michael Liebmann
Frederik Michael Liebmann
Frederik Michael Liebmann was a Danish botanist. Liebmann studied botany at the University of Copenhagen, although he never obtained a formal qualification. He went on study tours of Germany and Norway before becoming lecturer at the Danish Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College in 1837...
when he described it in 1853, and A. warscewiczii, for which Wendland provided the first description. Acanthorrhiza aculeata was based on a specimen now considered to belong to C. nana, but was defined in such a way that it also included another species, C. stauracantha. It was not until 1935 that American botanist Harley Bartlett realised that A. aculeata was the same as the pair of species that had been described by Kunth.
Both Corypha nana and Chamaerops mocini had been published at the same time in the same work, which meant that Bartlett had to designate a basionym
Basionym
Basionym is a term used in botany, regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature...
, the "original" validly published name for the species. Bartlett chose the former, and went on to describe three new species. Paul H. Allen
Paul H. Allen
Paul Hamilton Allen was an American botanist noted for his work on the ecology of Central America, orchid systematics and economically important species including bananas. He was married to the former Dorothy Osdieck of Kirkwood, Missouri....
described two new species in 1953, bringing the total number of species to seven. Based on Randall J. Evans' doctoral dissertation, Henderson and colleagues recognised nine species in the genus, although they expressed the concern that the fragmentation of populations by habitat destruction
Habitat destruction
Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...
may have exaggerated the difference between remaining populations, leading to an overestimate in the number of species. In his 1995 monograph on the genus, Evans recognised 10 species and two subspecies.
Species
The genus consists of 10 species- Cryosophila bartlettiiCryosophila bartlettiiCryosophila bartlettii is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in Panama.-References:* Evans, R. 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
R.J.Evans - Cryosophila cookiiCryosophila cookiiCryosophila cookii is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in Costa Rica.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* Evans, R. 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
Bartlett - Cryosophila grayumiiCryosophila grayumiiCryosophila grayumii is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in Costa Rica.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* Evans, R. 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
R.J.Evans - Cryosophila guagaraCryosophila guagaraCryosophila guagara is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* Evans, R. 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
P.H.AllenPaul H. AllenPaul Hamilton Allen was an American botanist noted for his work on the ecology of Central America, orchid systematics and economically important species including bananas. He was married to the former Dorothy Osdieck of Kirkwood, Missouri.... - Cryosophila kalbreyeriCryosophila kalbreyeriCryosophila kalbreyeri is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found in Colombia and Panama. It is threatened by habitat loss.The plant is named after the Victorian plant collector, Guillermo Kalbreyer .-References:...
(DammerCarl Lebrecht Udo DammerCarl Lebrecht Udo Dammer was a German botanist.- Work :* Handbuch für Pflanzensammler . Stuttgart 1891.* Anleitung für Pflanzensammler . Stuttgart 1894....
ex BurretMax BurretKarl Ewald Maximilian Burret, commonly known as Max Burret was a German botanist.Burret was born in Saffig near Andernach in the Prussian Rhine Province. He originally studied law at Lausanne and Munich at the instigation of his father...
) Dahlgren - Cryosophila macrocarpa R.J.Evans
- Cryosophila nanaCryosophila nanaCryosophila nana is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in Mexico.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* Evans, R. 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
BlumeCarl Ludwig BlumeCharles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume was a German-Dutch botanist.He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life working in the Dutch East Indies and in the Netherlands, where he was Director of the Rijksherbarium at Leiden... - Cryosophila stauracantha Heynh.Gustav HeynholdGustav Heynhold was a German botanist.In 1841, he renamed Arabis thaliana as Arabidopsis thaliana Heynh. in honour of Johannes Thal.His author abbreviation is Heynh.-Works:...
R.J.Evans - Cryosophila warscewiczii H.Wendl.Hermann WendlandHermann Wendland was a German botanist and gardener.He was a noted authority on the family Arecaceae , on which he published a major monograph which formed the basis for the modern classification of the family, including many of the generic names currently in use.The South American palm genus...
Bartlett - Cryosophila williamsiiCryosophila williamsiiCryosophila williamsii, also known as Lago Yojoa Palm or Root-spine Palm is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in Honduras.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
P.H.Allen
Distribution and status
The genus Cryosophila ranges from central Mexico in the north to northern Colombia in the south. Several species in the genus are endangeredEndangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
, including Cryosophila williamsii
Cryosophila williamsii
Cryosophila williamsii, also known as Lago Yojoa Palm or Root-spine Palm is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found only in Honduras.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
which is, according to the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
, extinct in the wild
Extinct in the Wild
Extinct in the Wild is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa, the only known living members of which are being kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range.-Examples:...
. All species are palms of the forest understorey, and nine of the ten species are found in lowland humid or wet forests. The tenth species, C. nana, is a tree of tropical dry forests.