| Latania | |
|---|---|
| |
| Red latan palm | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Tribe: | Borasseae |
| Genus: | Latania Comm. ex Juss. |
| Type species | |
| Latania lontaroides | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Latania, commonly known as latan palm or latania palm, is a genus of flowering plant in the palm tree family, native to the Mascarene Islands in the western Indian Ocean.
Species
The genus contains three species, one from each of the three major islands (including islets) in the chain. All species have been ranked as Endangered by the IUCN.
| Image | Leaves | Common Name | Scientific name | Native Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
blue latan palm, latanier de l'Ile Ronde | Latania loddigesii Mart. | Mauritius |
 |
 |
red latan palm, latanier de la Réunion | Latania lontaroides (Gaertn.) H.E.Moore | Réunion |
 |
 |
yellow latan palm, latanier de Rodrigues | Latania verschaffeltii Lem. | Rodrigues Island |
Latan palms are large, single-stemmed fan palms with separate male and female plants (dioecy); when the leaves fall, they leave scars on the trunks. Male flowers are small, in clusters, and emerge from within leathery bracts on the catkin-like inflorescences. Female flowers are larger, solitary and not concealed within bracts. The fruits contain 1-3 pyrenes, which are seeds enclosed within woody endocarps. The endocarps have sculpted surfaces and the three species are readily distinguished from their pyrenes.
References
- ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- "Latania conservation status". www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
- Dransfield, John; Uhl, Natalie W.; Asmussen, Conny B.; Baker, William J.; Harley, Madeline M.; Lewis, Carl E. (2008). Genera Palmarum - Evolution and Classification of Palms. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 978-1842461822.
- Bayton, Ross P. Borassus L. and the borassoid palms - systematics and evolution (PhD Thesis). University of Reading.
External links
| Taxon identifiers | |
|---|---|
| Latania |
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