Palms · collection at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Thailand, the exciting destination for this...

PalmsJournal of the International Palm Society Vol. 56(1) Mar. 2012

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Features

Palm News 4

Palm Literature 49

CONTENTS

FRONT COVER

Trachycarpus martianus is known in the wild from Sikkim.See article by B.S. Kholia, p. 5. Photo by B.S. Kholia.

BACK COVER

Chestnut-colored fruits of Calamus castaneus. See article by N.Ruppert et al., p. 36.

The entire-leaf form of Hydriastelebeguinii in the Hortus Botanicuscollection at Nong NoochTropical Garden, Thailand, theexciting destination for this year’sIPS Biennial. See article by L. Lai,p. 41. Photo by Paul Craft.

PALMS Vol. 56(1) 2012

5 Rediscovery of Trachycarpus martianusin the Sikkim HimalayaB.S. KHOLIA

11 In Search of Juania australis with a FewObservations of Jubaea chilensis along the Way D.R. HODEL

21 A Detection of ThiabendazolFungicide in Coconut Palms Using a Bioassay M.L. ELLIOTT & T.K. BROSCHAT

28 Dypsis robusta Found in the WildJ. DRANSFIELD, J. MARCUS & D. TURK

31 The Critically Endangered Ceroxylonsasaimae Rediscovered in the WildR. BERNAL & H.F. MANRIQUE

36 New Shoots from Inflorescences inCalamus castaneus in Peninsular Malaysia N. RUPPERT, A. MANSOR & S.A.M. SAH

41 Nong Nooch and the IPS Biennial 2012 L. LAI

PALMS Vol. 56(1) 2012

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NEWSPALM

Late 2011 saw a flurry of taxonomic papers in which a new genus,many new species and some new names for existing species werepublished. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the new genus Lanonia,which was published by Christine Bacon and Andrew Henderson(Systematic Botany 36: 883–895. 2011). It comes as a surprise becausemany of its species were described in 2008 in PALMS (52: 141–154) asdioecious species of Licuala from Vietnam. Bacon’s molecular studiesrevealed that these Vietnamese species comprised a lineage distinct fromthat of Licuala (just as Saribus was found to be distinct from Livistona,as she reported in PALMS last year). Lanonia is very poorly representedin cultivation, but we hope that these attractive fan palms will soonfind their way into collections around the world.

Drymophloeus has been down-sized as a result of a new molecular study of the subtribePtychospermatinae. Zona et al. transferred three species of Drymophloeus palms to the genusVeitchia and one to Ponapea (American Journal of Botany 98: 1716–1726. 2011). The new namesfor the species now banished from Drymophloeus are Veitchia subdisticha, V. pachyclada,V. lepidota and Ponapea hentyi. This publication also examined the geographic distributionsof the species of Ptychospermatinae and found evidence of repeated radiations from NewGuinea into the western Pacific and Australia. The study also confirmed that a palm from BiakIsland represents a second, as yet unnamed species of Adonidia.

Three palm articles appeared recently in the new journal Phytotaxa. The Sabal from Brazoria,Texas, long suspected of being a hybrid, was examined by Doug Goldman et al. in an open-access article (www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/content/2011/f/pt00027p025.pdf). Using moleculartools, the authors found support for the hypothesis that the palm is of hybrid origin but – muchto everyone’s surprise – not involving S. mexicana. They formally named the palm Sabal ×brazoriensis. Charlie Heatubun described seven new species of Areca, five of them endemic toBorneo, one to Sumatra and one to Cambodia. Several of these new species would makeattractive horticultural subjects. See a preview of the article at www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/content/2011/f/p00028p026f.pdf. Most recently, M.J. Sanín and G. Galeano produced a much-needed revision of the genus Ceroxylon, the famous wax palms of the Andes. Download thearticle at www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/content/2011/f/pt00034p064.pdf.

Marc Jeanson and colleagues described a new species of Caryota from Sulawesi (SystematicBotany 36: 600–604. 2011). The species, christened Caryota angustifolia, is distinguished byhaving very narrow, strap-like leaflets at the bases of the secondary rachises. The new speciesis a large, solitary-stemmed species similar to C. rumphiana and is currently in cultivation inBogor Botanical Garden, thanks to an earlier introduction of seeds by John Dransfield. Thepublication also includes a key to the five species of Caryota that occur east of Wallace’s Line.

Finally, we note with pleasure that IPS member José Antonio del Cañizo has brought out thethird edition of Palmeras, his highly accessible Spanish-language guide to cultivated palms.The book was published by Ediciones Mundi-Prensa and is available through www.amazon.es.Instead of the almost 700 pages of the second edition, this new edition is a massive 1153 pageslong and is correspondingly weighty. The substantial increase in size reflects the wealth of newpalm information that the author has included. The book is beautifully produced and in fullcolor throughout.

A. Henderson

PALMS Kholia: Trachycarpus martianus Vol. 56(1) 2012

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Rediscovery ofTrachycarpusmartianus inthe SikkimHimalaya

B.S. KHOLIA

Botanical Survey of India,Sikkim HimalayanRegional CenterP.O. RajbhawanGangtok 737 103,Sikkim, India

The largely Himalayan genus of solitary fan palms, Trachycarpus, has always

attracted plant lovers and nurserymen throughout the world, due mostly to its

cold hardiness. During the time of the British Raj the genus was not fully

understood in India, and only one (Brandis 1874, 1906), two (Griffith 1850;

Gamble 1881; Beccari & Hooker 1894) or three (Blatter 1926) species were

recognized from the Indian region, first in the genus Chamaerops and later

separated off into the genus Trachycarpus. In his thorough study of Asiatic palms,

Beccari (1931) provided taxonomy and distribution details of the genus as it was

then known, and Martin Gibbons and Tobias Spanner (1998a) published an up-

to-date version in 1998.

PALMS 56(1): 5–10

1. Trachycarpus martianusgrowing in front of workers’quarter at Temi Tea Garden,South Sikkim.

At present, the number of species in the IndianHimalaya is five, including the extensivelycultivated and now naturalized Chusan fanpalm, T. fortunei. All of these species have amore or less restricted distribution; for exampleT. takil and T. latisectus are endemic to smallareas of the Kumaon and Darjeeling Himalayasrespectively. Trachycarpus martianus is reportedfrom small areas of Nepal and the Khasia Hills(Gibbons 2003). The palm growing in tinyareas in Manipur and on the Naga Hills,introduced into cultivation variously asTrachycarpus sp. ‘Manipur’ or ‘Naga Hills’(Kembrey 2004) and more recently describedas T. ukhrulensis Lorek and Pradhan (Lorek2004; Lorek & Pradhan 2006), has now beenidentified as the Thai mountain palm, T.oreophilus (Gibbons & Spanner 2009).

The Sikkim and Darjeeling Himalayas are themost extensively explored areas in the IndianHimalayan region. The Trachycarpus palms ofthis area at least have been well documented(Gamble 1881, Cowan & Cowan 1929, Beccari& Hooker 1894, Beccari 1931). Recently T.latisectus, a very beautiful species with markedtaxonomic characteristics, was discovered here(Gibbons & Spanner 1998b; Spanner et al.1997), and the old records of T. martianus fromBritish Sikkim (i.e., present Sikkim State ofIndia and the Darjeeling district of WestBengal) relate to this same species. On theother hand, Lorek (2007) reduced all thespecies with oval seeds growing in this Indianregion to subspecies of T. martianus, and henamed them as Khasyi form (subsp. khasianus),

Nepal form (subsp. martianus) and Rissoomform (subsp. latisectus) according to the placeof occurrence. He stated that “The locality inSikkim [Rungbong] which was mentioned byBeccari (based on Indian classical taxonomicliterature) has not been rediscovered up tonow.” He added, “Currently, it is not clearwhether the ‘Rissoom form’ (= ssp. latisectus)has its origin at Rungbong or not. Mayberelocating the Rungbong locality could throwmore light on this question.” Perhaps Rissomand Rungbong are two different places. Theneed to establish this becomes essential tosorting out what is going on with thetaxonomy and distribution of the ovoid-fruitedspecies of Trachycarpus.

During the plant survey of the South Districtof Sikkim in 2008, the author came across fivecultivated plants of a Trachycarpus palm infront of workers’ quarters at Temi tea gardens(Fig. 1). They have denticulate petioles (Fig. 2)and bear white woolly hairs in the youngerstage. They were without fruits. At first sightthey looked quite different from either of theother palms growing in this part of theHimalaya, i.e., the commonly cultivated T.fortunei and the recently discovered T. latisectus.On the basis of the denticulate petiole and thegeneral appearance, I presumed them to be T.martianus, but they could also possibly bemembers of the other group of Trachycarpuswith reniform seeds, i.e., T. oreophilus orsomething closely related.

Intriguingly a local guide explained wherethese palms had come from and described a


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2. Trachycarpus martianus showing denticulate petioles.

local population. I was determined to visit theplace without delay. The next morning he andI left the Tandong Biodiversity Park at firstlight. We crossed the road that runs betweenDamthang and the Temi Tea Garden and thatleads ultimately up to Gangtok, the capital cityof Sikkim State. We climbed up about one anda half kilometers inside the forest and foundourselves on a narrow, gravelly and calm roadbetween dense forest of large Cupressus torulosaother native broad leaved trees and densepatches of thicket fern, Gleichenia gigantea. Atone point we left the road and followed anarrow path up into the forest. After a walk of6 or 7 km, at 2000 m, we reached a clearingand enjoyed the beauty of a bright and sunnyday and then climbed up the final 50 m tothe summit. A beautiful landscape was waitingfor us: the rays of the morning sun lit up theTeesta river and its wide valley a few kilometersto the east. We could see Rungpo, the gatewayof Sikkim, at the confluence of the Teesta andReshi Rivers, and in the southeast, the ridgesof Kalimpong and other areas of Darjeelingformed the horizon. Just below us we could seeour destination, the village of Rungbing, thevery same Rungbong where C.B. Clarkecollected Trachycarpus specimens more than ahundred years ago (Beccari 1931).

Presently we were on one of the historicalroutes between the Teesta valley and the GreatRangit valley, which were well connected withDarjeeling during the British time, before thedevelopment of motor roads in modernSikkim. These days this route is almostabandoned and rarely used even by the

villagers. After a short walk we left the road andstarted descending on a slanting connectingpath, which was partly blocked with densebushes and occasional big trees. After an easy2 km walk down we entered the village. Thelocals there were very surprised to see us atthis early hour, and assuming me to be a forestofficer, half expected a raid. Fortunately wewere able to reassure them of our goodintentions. My colleague Krishna asked thepeople about Pankha or Purbang (vernacularnames for the fan palm in the local Nepalesedialect), but we received largely negativeanswers.

We next made our way to where Krishnaremembered having seen a large fan palmsome ten or fifteen years ago. This magnificentpalm, still there, is about 10 or 11 m tall,growing at the top of a steep, rocky bank andwas heavy with seeds. It was overgrown withbushes and subtropical and temperate treesincluding Castanopsis indica, Quercus lamellosa,Ficus cordifolia, F. neriifolia, F. hirta, Saurauianapaulensis, Erythrina arborescens, Engelhardtiaspicata, Exbucklandia populnea, Macarangadenticulata, Echinocarpus dasycarpus and Alnusnepalensis. Furthermore, the base of the trunkwas completely hidden by steep rocks. Inbetween bushes and under the large trees, 4 or5 more, smaller palms were growing nearby. Allhad dry inflorescences.

Seed collection was very difficult due to theheight of the big palm and the rocky terrain;a small slip could result in a fall of 60 meters.We considered carefully the easiest and safest


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3. Seeds badly infected by insect larva.

way of collecting fruits. Krishna produced asickle from his bag, and fixed it to a longbamboo cane using rope he made from grass.In the meantime the lady from a nearby housegave us valuable information about a wildpopulation. She guided us along a suitablepath, and after some effort we were at the baseof a fruiting palm. Using the prepared sickle,we cut a small fruiting branch leaving the restthere because they were still not mature. Wealso cut a leaf from nearby smaller plant, andit, together with the round oval seeds, whichwere badly infected by insects (Fig. 3), allowedus to identify it as T. martianus, a palm that hasnot been seen in the wild in Sikkim for over100 years!

We left the area and climbed upwards along asmall footpath along the ridge in search ofmore plants. After ascending half a kilometeror so, we left the main footpath and starteddescending into the forest. After a descent ofa kilometer in deep, southeast-facing forest,we began to follow a water supply pipebetween shrubs and trees, continuing downbetween thorny bushes, prickly climbers andlarge trees, clearing a passage with the help ofthe sickle. Monkeys began jumping from onetree to another upon seeing these unexpectedvisitors. In a deep gully, between big trees, wefound two fully grown palms. With great effortwe reached them to try to take pictures, but nosuitable angle was found due to the densecanopy. Alas there was no sign of fruits,seedlings or juveniles in the vicinity.

We decided to cross the small stream to checkout the warmer and more exposed side of thegully. When we were about to cross it at27°11’57.9”N; 88°25’28.0”E at 1680 m, wenoticed three big trees of about 7 or 8 m tallgrowing some 30 m above us (Fig. 4), but theywere also without fruits. Now we wereconfident that we were in the right place wherethe local guide had originally found the palms.We again found a small descending footpathperhaps used to visit the water tank, and wefollowed it for about one kilometer or so.Along the path and nearby we found up to ahundred different sized palms (Fig. 5), takingmany pictures at 27°11’57.7” N; 88°25’31.4”E.Many palms had died due to age, but somestumps were still remaining (Fig. 6). Thereseems to be no human interference with thepalms, but even so we saw no seeds orseedlings. Monkeys are common in the forest,so we concluded that the fruits are taken bymonkeys before they are ripe.

Around 3 p.m., we left the area seeing manymore individuals of Trachycarpus martianusgrowing below us on the southeast-facingslopes. We left with great satisfaction,returning to base via the old classical routerunning parallel to the top of Rangbing village.Since our visit, more cultivated palms havebeen reported from Sadam and other nearbyvillages in South Sikkim. These have all beencollected from the nearby forests.

Gamble and Clarke found Trachycarpus palmsin this area (Beccari 1931), however Brandis(1874) clearly stated that “No Chamaerops[Trachycarpus] has yet been reported fromSikkim,” and in his later publication (Brandis1906) does not record any Trachycarpus fromSikkim. Recently, during my visit to the CentralNational Herbarium in Calcutta (CAL) inJune–July 2010, I was unable to find theTrachycarpus collections of Gamble and Clarkefrom British Sikkim. The Indian Liaison Officerat RBG Kew was unable to trace the missingcollections of Clarke and Gamble. Could it bethat all the sheets collected by these renownedbotanists from British Sikkim were sent toBeccari and are still lying in the Beccari’s palmherbarium in Florence, Italy?


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4. Trachycarpus martianus in its natural habitat at27°11’59.9”N; 88°25’28.0”E.

After analyzing Gamble’s (1881) lines – “InSikkim, I have only once found it, on the hillseast of Teesta river” – I am convinced thatGamble’s locality (“Rissom mountain nearDumsong beyond Darjeeling”) is definitely theKalimpong area where T. latisectus wasdescribed. On the other hand a young plantcollected by Clarke from “Rungbong at about1,200 m” is definitely from the lowerelevations of present day Rungbing village nearDamthang in the south district of Sikkim,where T. martianus still grows. Thus Rissomand Rungbong are two different places; thefirst is on the east side of the Teesta River inKalimpong in Darjeeling District where T.latisectus occurs; the second is on the westernflank of the river in present day South Districtof Sikkim where T. martianus grows. Thesecond locality has remained hidden orforgotten for more than a century. In anyevent, the rediscovery of Trachycarpusmartianus in its historical location after a

period of more than 100 years is an excitingevent, and one that will be welcomed by allenthusiasts of the genus.

Acknowledgments

Grateful thanks are due to Martin Gibbons ofEngland and Tobias Spanner of Germany forproviding literature, constant guidance andsupport and for improving the manuscript. Iam most thankful to Dr. M. Sanjappa, Directorand Dr. D.K. Singh Add. Director, BotanicalSurvey of India for providing the necessaryfacilities. Mr. Krishna caretaker of TandongBiodiversity Park, Sikkim is also acknowledgedfor his assistance in the field.

LITERATURE CITED

BECCARI, O. 1931. Asiatic Palms – Corypheae.Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 13: 1–356.

BECCARI, O. AND J.D. HOOKER. 1894. OrderCLXIII. Palmae. In J.D. HOOKER, Flora ofBritish India, vol. VI. L. Reeve & Co. London.

BLATTER, E. 1926. The Palms of British Indiaand Ceylon, Oxford University Press,London.

BRANDIS, D. 1874. The forest flora of north-westand central India. W.H. Allen and Co. Ltd.,London.

BRANDIS, D. 1906. Indian Trees, ArchibaldConstable and Co. Ltd, London,

COWAN, A.M. AND J.M. COWAN. 1929. The treesof Northern Bengal. Calcutta.

GAMBLE, J.S. 1881. A Manual of Indian Timbers:An Account of the Structure, Growth,Distribution, and Qualities of Indian Wood,Office of the Superintendent of GovernmentPrinting, Calcutta,

GIBBONS, M. 2003. A Pocket Guide to Palms,Chartwell Book Inc, New Jersey.

GIBBONS, M. AND T. SPANNER. 1998a. Palms forSouthern California. Part Thirty:Trachycarpus. The Palm Journal 138: 8–17.

GIBBONS, M. AND T. SPANNER. 1998b. Trachycarpuslatisectus: The Windamere palm. Principes42: 24–29.

GIBBONS, M. AND T. SPANNER. 2009. Trachycarpustakil – lost and found, for now. Palms 53:96–101.

GRIFFITH, W. 1850. Palms of British East India,Charles A. Serrao, Calcutta.

KEMBREY, N. 2004. Trachycarpus sp. Manipur orNaga Hills. Chamaerops 49, publishedonline, visited July 2010.


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5. Trachycarpus martianus at 27°11’57.7”N;88°25’31.4”E.

LOREK, M. 2004. Trachycarpus ukhrulensis, thesurvivor palm. The Palmateer 24(2): 13, 22,23.

LOREK, M. 2007. A taxonomic review ofTrachycarpus martianus (Wall.) H. Wendl.Curr. Sci. 92: 1678–1679.

LOREK, M. AND K.C. PRADHAN. 2006. A newspecies of Trachycarpus (Arecaceae) with

remarks on its unusual habitat. Bot. Jahrb.Syst. 126: 419–426.

SPANNER T., H.J. NOLTIE AND M. GIBBONS. 1997.Trachycarpus latisectus. Edinburgh J. Bot. 54:257–259.


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6. Stump of a dead palm.

PALMS Hodel: In Search of Juania Vol. 56(1) 2012

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In Search ofJuania australiswith a FewObservations ofJubaea chilensisalong the Way

DONALD R. HODEL

University of CaliforniaCooperative Extension4800 E. Cesar Chavez Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90022 [email protected]

One of the most mysterious, enigmatic and fascinating palms must be Juania

australis. Its isolated habitat alone, on Robinson Crusoe Island (Juan Fernández)

off the coast of Chile, is more than sufficient to conjure up images of a remote,

far away, mysterious land, while the name of the island itself and its past role in

literary lore add immeasurably to this mystique. I visited Chile in November, 2010

with Marianne Hodel and Steve Daugherty, my former college roommate, to

explore for the rare J. australis in its isolated, island habitat and to observe the

famous and well known Jubaea chilensis in the wild.

PALMS 56(1): 11–20

1. At theHacienda delas Palmas deCocalán southof Santiago,Chile, theextensivepopulation ofJubaea chilensisinhabits theflat valleybottom and issemi-managedfor thebountiful cropof edible seedscalled coquitos.

After the all-night flight from Los Angeles toSantiago, Chile, we rented an auto and droveto our hotel where we checked in and relaxedfor awhile before meeting Steve’s friend, EvaOchoa, for lunch. Over a traditional Chileanseafood extravaganza, we planned ouractivities for the next two weeks. Our plan wasto spend about 10 days in and aroundSantiago, making day trips to several locales tosee the famous Chilean wine palm, Jubaeachilensis, in the wild and cultivated around thecity. We would then make a four-day trip toRobinson Crusoe Island to see Juania australisafter which Marianne and I would travel toEaster Island for a few days before returning toLos Angeles.

Jubaea chilensis

Like California, central Chile, includingSantiago, has a Mediterranean climatecharacterized by cool, moist winters and warm,dry summers. November is late spring inSantiago, and typically the weather is mostlypleasant with warm, sunny days and coolnights although we experienced severalunusually cool days with clouds and rain. Wewere amazed at the similarity of the terrainand vegetation around Santiago with that ofsouthern California. The rocky hillsides werevariously covered with xerophytic shrubs,small trees, cacti and, at this time of year,

seasonal wildflowers, just like our chaparral inCalifornia. It was all the more amazing,though, to see some of these hills and valleyscovered densely with vast stands of Jubaeachilensis.

We visited three areas with Jubaea chilensis,including Quebrada Siete Hermanas near theport and tourist destinations of Valparaiso andVina del Mar west of Santiago, the Haciendade las Palmas de Cocalán south of Santiago(Fig. 1), and Parque Nacional La Campananorth of Santiago. The last two sites have thelargest populations of J. chilensis, 35,000 and62,500 adults each, respectively. While thispalm is most abundant in valley bottoms,where soil is deep and moisture is moreplentiful and available, it frequently inhabitsor even thrives on dry, well drained, rockyhilltops and ridges (Fig. 2). I was surprised andhad a difficult time understanding how thispalm could grow in such a harsh environment.At the Hacienda de las Palmas de Cocalán,where the palms are semi-managed for thebountiful fruits containing the edible seeds,called coquitos (small coconuts), we observedseveral, still-living and healthy-appearingspecimens with burned-out trunks, evidence ofthe occasional fires that ravage the palms andsurrounding area. Some were burned soextensively that only a perimeter layer of


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2. While Jubaea chilensis is most abundant in valley bottoms, where soil is deep and moisture is more plentifuland available, it frequently inhabits or even thrives on dry, well drained, rocky hilltops and ridges, as here atParque Nacional La Campana north of Santiago, Chile.

sound tissue about 10 cm (4 inches) thickremained and, in some cases, only partiallyenclose the trunk, easily enabling a person tostep inside. These burned-out trunks stillsupported a healthy, full canopy of leaves.

Juania australis and Robinson Crusoe Island

After spending a few days in Santiago visitingseveral of the well known tourist sites, manyof them with exemplary specimens of Jubaeachilensis, we were ready and excited to visitRobinson Crusoe Island (otherwise known asJuan Fernández) in our quest to see Juaniaaustralis. Unfortunately, our plans unraveledslightly when the day before our departure thetravel agent who had made our arrangementsfor Robinson Crusoe Island (air, lodging andlocal guide), e-mailed me to say that theregularly scheduled airline on which we werebooked had decided not to fly to RobinsonCrusoe Island that week! We were stunnedbecause we were locked-in to our departure toLos Angeles and Marianne and I still had our

short trip to Easter Island, precluding us fromadjusting our schedule. This discouraging newsreminded me painfully what others had toldme about travel to Robinson Crusoe Island: itis not an easy place to get to, the airline thatserves it is unreliable and flights are frequentlycancelled or rescheduled with little or nonotice.

Fortunately, our savvy and resourceful travelagent quickly, at no additional coast, chartereda small, two-engine aircraft to take us toRobinson Crusoe Island. On the morning ofNovember 9, when Steve, Eva, Marianne andI arrived at one of the charter hangers at theairport, an agent met and told us that oneadditional passenger would be accompanyingus to Robinson Crusoe Island. As it turned out,the additional passenger was none other thanMichelangelo Trezza, the owner of the hotelwhere we would be staying for three nightson the island. At the time of our visit there wasonly one hotel operating on Robinson Crusoe


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3. Cultivated specimens of Juaniaaustralis in San Juan Bautista onRobinson Crusoe Island typically arebetter looking than their wildcounterparts and have a fairly robust,smooth, lime-green, conspicuouslyand densely ringed trunk supporting acompact, nearly spherical canopy of25 to 35, stiffly ascending tospreading to drooping, dark green,pinnate leaves.

Island because the tsunami spawned by thepowerful earthquake that struck Chile inFebruary 2010 devastated San Juan Bautista,the only village on the island. The tsunamikilled over 20 people and destroyed nearly halfthe small village, including all the hotelsexcept one. We were the first tourists to visitRobinson Crusoe Island since the tsunami.

The flight from Santiago to Robinson Crusoewas uneventful but as we neared the islandthe skies suddenly became cloudy and wewould not see the sun again until we returnedto Santiago in three days. Once our plane hadlanded and we had collected our gear, welearned that the pilot would be staying withus for our three nights rather than makinganother trip back to Santiago and then backto the island again. From the airport we tooka short truck ride down to a small bay thatwas home to several hundred noisy sea lionsfrolicking in the rough surf or lyingcontentedly on the mossy rocks. From thesmall bay we took a rough, wet, two-hour, 18-km (11-mile) ride in a small, open boat to SanJuan Bautista. If not for the rain coverings wewere given upon boarding the salt spray wouldhave thoroughly soaked us and our gear.

Prior to the tsunami about 500 people lived onRobinson Crusoe Island, nearly all in San Juan

Bautista on Cumberland Bay, and they wereengaged in fishing, primarily lobster, and abudding eco-tourism industry. Now about 350people live on the island and, while fishing isstill the primary source of income, there ishope that tourism can get back on its feet withreconstruction of hotels and other necessaryinfrastructure.

Formerly known as Juan Fernández Island orMás a Tierra, the Chilean government renamedthe island Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966 toreflect is purported literary past. Many peopletheorize that Daniel Defoe based his 1719novel, Robinson Crusoe, on the experiences ofa Scottish castaway, Alexander Selkirk, whovoluntarily asked to be left on the island in1704 because of doubts of the seaworthinessof the vessel on which he sailed. After fouryears on the island he was rescued in 1709and returned to Europe to tell his tale.However, several other real-life incidences mayvery well have served as Defoe’s inspiration.

About 675 km (415 miles) west of Chile,Robinson Crusoe Island is the largest of threethat make up the Juan Fernández Islandsarchipelago (Alexander Selkirk and Santa Claraare the other two islands in the archipelago).The island covers 93 km2 (36 miles2) and risesvery precipitously to 916 m (3005 feet) at the


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4. The congested leaf bases of Juania australis, deeply split opposite the petiole, are loosely overlapping, donot form a crownshaft, and, like the petioles, are densely covered with grayish to tan or even rusty brown,felt-like indumentum.

top of El Yunque, the highest point. Theremains of an ancient volcano, RobinsonCrusoe Island is extremely mountainous andspectacularly eroded with steep valleys andnarrow, razor-like ridges and is reminiscent ofsome of the picturesque, older islands inHawaii or the South Pacific.

Like the Chilean mainland, Robinson CrusoeIsland has a Mediterranean climate but thecold Humboldt Current sweeping up fromAntarctica provides significant modifications.Thus, it has a more moderate climate, not aswarm or cold as Valparaiso at roughly similarlatitude on the Chilean coast, and with littleseasonal variation. However, because of thecold Humboldt Current, the weather isfrequently cool, cloudy, misty or drizzly, andwindy, and reminded me much of SanFrancisco on the central California coast.Daytime high and nighttime low temperaturesin January, the warmest month, average 22ºC(71ºF) and 16ºC (61ºF), respectively, while inAugust, the coolest month, they are 15ºC(60ºF) and 10ºC (50ºF). A low -2ºC (29ºF) hasbeen recorded in October. Rain averages 170mm (7 inches) in July, the wettest month, and26 mm (1 inch) in February, the driest month.

Humidity is always high and the rainiestmonths of June and July average about 15 daysper month of rain or drizzle while the driestmonths of December and January averageabout six days per month of rain or drizzle.These records are for San Juan Bautista at sealevel but certainly the higher parts of theisland, which are frequently hidden in clouds,experience cooler temperatures and higherrainfall and humidity.

Pasture land and disturbed forest with manyinvasive, weedy exotic species, like Eucalyptus,Cupressus and Pinus, occur from sea level toabout 200 meters elevation. Lower montaneforest ranges from 200 to 400 meters elevation.Upper montane forest occurs above 400 meterselevation. Juania australis is restricted tomontane forest and is most common in uppermontane forest. Upper montane forests onsome of the higher mountains, which arenearly always enveloped in clouds, support anintriguing cloud forest. Robinson Crusoe Islandis rich in endemics, with 101 of the 146 nativeplant species (nearly 70%) found nowhere else.Most of the plants have relatives in SouthAmerica, New Zealand and Australia. Severalmembers of the sunflower family, whoserelatives are typically herbs in other locations,are trees on Robinson Crusoe Island. The entireisland was designated a World BiosphereReserve in 1977 because of its unique andendangered flora and fauna.

As our small boat pulled up to the wharf at SanJuan Bautista, the destruction from thetsunami was stunning. The lower half of thevillage adjacent to Cumberland Bay was gone,as if a giant hand had simply wiped it from theearth’s surface. Only a few very large and oldtrees and house foundations remained. As wewaited for the ride to our hotel, I looked up tothe steep and narrow ridgelines towering overthe village and here and there I was just ableto pick out a few specimens of Juania australisclinging precariously to nearly vertical cliffsnot too far above San Juan Bautista. Seeing thepalms above and so near to San Juan Bautistawas encouraging but, being an eternalpessimist and somewhat experienced insearching for palms in difficult-to-access places,I checked my optimism because I knew thatwhat seemed like a rather easy walk up to thepalms could easily be just the opposite.

After checking into the hotel and eating lunch,we discussed our plans for the next two dayswith Michelangelo, who would also serve asour guide in our search for Juania australis. The


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5. Juania australis clings tenaciously to a cliff nearMirador de Selkirk above San Juan Bautista onRobinson Crusoe Island.

next day we would take a walk up a trailbehind San Juan Bautista to Mirador de Selkirk,a viewpoint at the top of the ridge overlookingthe village and bay near to the J. australis Ihad seen upon our arrival. Our second day’sactivities would take us on a much longer walkover several ridges to the southeast of San JuanBautista. We spent the remainder of theafternoon exploring the steep hillsides aroundthe hotel, looking at ferns and admiring theviews of the ocean crashing into the base ofthe precipitous slopes.

Michelangelo was full of confidence the nextmorning as he, Eva, Steve, Marianne and I setout for Mirador de Selkirk. He was sure wewould find our quarry, Juania australis. As wewalked toward the village we passed throughgroves of the Australian native Eucalyptusglobulus, the blue gum, which reminded memuch of the central and northern Californiacoasts. Much to our surprise as we passedthrough San Juan Bautista, we found severalcultivated specimens of J. australis adorning afew dooryards. Known locally as chonta, it isan unusual palm, not likely to be confusedwith any other. The fairly robust, smooth,lime-green, conspicuously and densely ringedtrunk supports a compact, nearly spherical

canopy of 25–35, stiffly ascending to spreadingto drooping, dark green, pinnate leaves withrelatively short petioles (Fig. 3). Leaf scars onthe lower part of the trunk, which wereproduced when the palm was young andgrowing more vigorously and or perhapsshaded, are frequently uneven andasymmetrical, with one side higher than theother, reminding me of those of Howeaforsteriana. In contrast, leaf scars near the topof the trunk just below the leaves are severelyclose set and congested, reminding me of thoseof Rhopalostylis baueri or R. sapida. The stiffpinnae are glossy dark green above and grayishbelow. The congested leaf bases, deeply splitopposite the petiole, are loosely overlapping,do not form a crownshaft, and, like thepetioles, are densely covered with grayish totan or even rusty brown, felt-like indumentum(Fig. 4). Simply looking at the leaf bases easilyreminds one of its relatives Ceroxylon,Oraniopsis appendiculata and even Ravenea.Unfortunately, none of the plants had flowersor fruits although they looked sufficiently largeand old to be mature. Michelangelo wasdelighted, jauntily declaring that we hadattained our objective for the trip. His spiritswere not in the least bit dampened when Ireminded him that I had come to see these


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6. Above Mirador de Selkirk on Robinson Crusoe Island Juania australis is exposed and, with its wind-battered,torn and frayed leaves, is not nearly as handsome as its cultivated counterparts in San Juan Bautista.

palms in the wild, and he assured me that wewould soon see them at Mirador de Selkirk.

The trail to Mirador de Selkirk, like all the othertrails on the island, was unusually steep butafforded spectacular views of San Juan Bautistaand adjacent Cumberland Bay. We zigzaggedup the steep slope, passing through moistforests with short trees heavily laden withepiphytic ferns and a dense groundcover ofshrubs and other ferns. As we neared the topof the ridge Juania australis seemed tantalizingclose as they clung tenaciously to the nearvertical slopes 25–50 meters above us (Fig. 5).Finally we arrived at the top of the ridge andMirador de Selkirk where we enjoyedpanoramic views of the village and bay on oneside and the western end of the island on theother. Unfortunately we realized that we wouldbe unable to access the palms from this sitebecause the razor-sharp ridges leading away tothe north and south to the palms were simplytoo steep to negotiate without being a goat orprofessional mountain climber, neither ofwhich applied to us. Thus, I had to be contentwith viewing the palms from a distance and

trying to take a few shots with a telephoto lens(Fig 6). Despite the distance it was easy to seethat these palms, with their wind-battered,torn and frayed leaves, were not nearly ashandsome as their cultivated counterparts wehad just admired in San Juan Bautista. Thesewild palms had a hemi-spherical canopy ofmany fewer leaves with necrotic, gray- tobrown-tipped pinnae. I am sure that mydisappointment at not being able to reach thepalms was clear because Michelangeloconfidently assured me that we would reachthem the next day.

Like everyday during our stay on the RobinsonCrusoe Island, the next day dawned cloudy,drizzly, cool and windy. Eva and Steve decidedto remain at the hotel, but the pilot and oneof the hotel’s gardeners would joinMichelangelo, Marianne and me for ourarduous trek to the southeast to see Juaniaaustralis. We zigzagged up a very steep ridgedirectly behind the hotel and then crossed twosmall valleys and ridges before finally arriving,several hours later, on a grassy, windsweptplateau and large ridge overlooking a deep


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7 (left). A thrifty, wind-battered staminate plant of Juania australis in lower montane forest is exposed abovethe surrounding vegetation at El Cordon Piedra Agujereada, Robinson Crusoe Island. 8 (right). Old staminateinflorescences of this Juania australis at El Cordon Piedra Agujereada on Robinson Crusoe Island are heldamong the leaves.

valley, an area known as El Cordon PiedraAgujereada. Across this valley and higher upwe could see extensive lower and uppermontane forest with numerous J. australispoking their leaves above the canopy. Excitedlydown we went into the deep valley and upthe other side, passing through lower montaneforest and panting heavily from the exertionof the climb before finally gaining access toupper montane forest. This dense, mossy, high-elevation forest was a delightful place,supporting an extensive understory of thecycad-like fern Blechnum cycadifolium andseveral, handsome tree ferns. The moss andleaf litter on the forest floor formed a spongylayer 30–60 cm (1–2 feet) deep and gave us abouncy sensation as we maneuvered our waythrough the dense undergrowth. Scattered hereand there were several J. australis that we couldactually touch and look right up the trunk intotheir wind-battered canopies! However, thesepalms were difficult to photograph because ofthe densely encroaching forest and not muchbetter looking than the palms we had seenfrom a distance the day before. They had thesame wind-torn and shredded leaves with gray-

and brown-tipped pinnae. Because we couldexamine these palms closely, though, we couldsee that some type of insect predator was alsoseverely ravaging the leaves.

Juania australis is dioecious, meaning there areseparate staminate (male, pollen-bearing) andpistillate (female, seed-bearing) plants. We werefortunate to find one staminate plant with oldinflorescences emerging among the leaves buthanging below them in nearby lower montaneforest that was sufficiently clear to photograph(Figs. 7 & 8). In upper montane forest wefound a pistillate plant with torn, tattered andravaged leaves that was in young fruit.Unfortunately we found no plants with maturefruit. We also noticed that during thedevelopmental phases from seedling to adultplant the palms display saxophone-typeestablishment growth and produce a “heel,”like other palms including Chamaedorearadicalis, Ravenea xerophila, Rhopalostylis spp.and Sabal spp.

We were in a special place, one in which wewanted to linger and were in no hurry to leave.We simply wanted to “soak up” the ambiance


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9 (left). Infructescences of Juania australis are showy when heavily laden with bright, red-orange fruits.Cultivated, Los Canelos, Viña del Mar, Chile. 10 (right). The showy infructescences of Juania australis aremostly held below the leaves and typically retain several, large, thick-papery, tan bracts that persist over thecluster of fruits. Cultivated, Los Canelos, Viña del Mar, Chile.

of the moment. But the day was getting lateand we had a strenuous, four-hour walk toreturn to the hotel. We were a happy group aswe descended and then ascended a seeminglynever-ending series of valleys and ridges.However, our happiness was temperedsomewhat when Michelangelo twisted hisankle descending into one of the valleys,necessitating a 45-minute hiatus to recoverbefore he was able to continue on. We wererelieved finally to stagger into the hotel, takea warm shower, enjoy a lobster dinner, andshare our day’s adventures with Eva and Steve.

The next day we said our goodbyes to theattentive hotel staff and, after braving the wet,two-hour boat ride back to the west end of theisland and the airport, we departed on ourcharter flight to Santiago. After saying fondfarewells to the pilot and Michelangelo inSantiago, we dropped Eva off at her house andSteve, Marianne and I returned to our hotel.

Easter Island

The next day Marianne and I departed forEaster Island. While we both wanted to seethe famous remnants of the ancient Polynesiancivilization that once thrived on the island, Iwas keen to see the Jubaea chilensis that hadbeen transported from the Chilean mainland

by boat a few years ago in an attempt to“reforest” Easter Island, which is a sensitivesubject in Chile. In 1984 John Dransfield andothers published the name Paschalococosdisperta for an extinct palm that once inhabitedEaster Island. The name was based upon somefruit endocarps (shells) found in a cave andthat indicated the extinct palm was related toJubaea chilensis. It is thought that thePolynesians deforested Easter Island and in theprocess drove P. disperta to extinction. Theymay have cut the palms for food or shelter, andor used the trunks as rollers to move the largeand heavy moais (giant statues) from thequarries to various sites around the island.

A small controversy is raging in Chile aboutPaschalococos disperta and Jubaea chilensis. Onegroup believes that these two species are oneand the same and, thus, has made an effort toreestablish J. chilensis on Easter Island. Theother group believes that the two are distinctand, thus, there should be no efforts to reforestEaster Island with J. chilensis. At least one initialplanting of J. chilensis has been made, though,and small, still trunkless plants to 2 meters (6feet) overall height can be seen at theagriculture department arboretum and theairport. It seems unlikely that the two speciesare the same, though, because the climate on


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11. The bright orange, spherical fruits of Juania australis are about 2 cm (0.8 inch) in diameter. Cultivated, LosCanelos, Viña del Mar, Chile.

Easter Island is mildly tropical and coconutsare widely planted there. Jubaea chilensis doesnot grow well in a tropical climate and ratherperforms best or thrives in a Mediterraneanclimate. It will be interesting to track theprogress of the few J. chilensis on Easter Islandand see how well they grow in the years tocome. Tour guides would like to have real livepalms to show the tourists because of thecritical role the palm might have played in thedevelopment and demise of the Polynesianculture on Easter Island. All they could showus now were purported palm trunk lava moldson the walls and ceilings of a few caves.

Cultivated Juania australis

After two days enjoying the sites on EasterIsland Marianne and I returned to Santiago.Our departure for Los Angeles was late the nextevening, meaning we had a full day left inSantiago. We decided to visit the privategarden Los Canelos in the scenic and touristyViña del Mar near Valparaiso on the coast westof Santiago. Eduardo Sone, curator of thegarden, showed us several, old, mature, andheavily fruiting specimens of Juania australis.Pistillate plants are showy when carryingseveral infructescences with bright, red-orangefruits (Fig. 9). While emerging within theleaves, the relatively short but showyinfructescences are mostly held below themin fruit and typically retain several, large, thick-papery, tan bracts that persist over the clusterof fruits (Fig.10). The spherical fruits are about2 cm (0.8 inch) in diameter (Fig. 11). Seedlingeophylls are strap-like (Fig. 12). Other thanthese specimens, the only other cultivated J.australis I had ever seen were in the LakesidePalmetum in Oakland, California near SanFrancisco and in Dick Endt’s fabulous gardennear Auckland, New Zealand. The plants inCalifornia, which are growing steadily butslowly, have yet to form trunk but the one atDick Endt’s garden had a short trunk in 2005.Larger specimens, which I have not seen butare perhaps mature, are at Illeifa, a small islandin Lago Ranco, Valdivia in southern Chile.

After seeing Juania australis in the wild andthe few cultivated specimens on the Chileanmainland, and in California and New Zealand,I can understand and appreciate how rare this

palm is in cultivation and how slowly it grows.The rather narrow and exacting environmentalparameters in which it grows, with little dailyor even seasonal variance, make it one of themost difficult palms to cultivate. There are fewplaces in the world of palm cultivation thathave the same or similar climate as that ofRobinson Crusoe Island, and the narrowenvironmental parameters are difficult toduplicate artificially.

We hurried back to Santiago to do our finalpacking, gather our luggage, check out of thehotel, and head to the airport for our returnto Los Angeles. Because I dislike hastydepartures, we were much relieved and contentfinally to settle into our seats for the long flightto Los Angeles and fondly remember Chile’stwo endemic and very different palms.

Acknowledgments

Several people and institutions facilitated ourtravel and visits to see palms in Chile and allhave my sincere thanks. These includeVeronica Lopez of Hacienda las Palmas deCocalán; Patricio Novoa of the Jardín BotánicoNacional at Viña del Mar; Mauricio Moreno ofthe Reserva Ecológica Oasis de la Campana;and Eduardo Sone of Los Canelos, Renaca,Viña del Mar. Ceci Salas of Latin Trip andMichelangelo Trezza, owner of Hotel Pangal,made our trip to Robinson Crusoe Islandpossible and pleasurable.


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12. Seedling eophylls of Juania australis are strap like.Cultivated, Los Canelos, Viña del Mar, Chile.


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In Search ofJuania australiswith a FewObservations ofJubaea chilensisalong the Way

DONALD R. HODEL

University of CaliforniaCooperative Extension4800 E. Cesar Chavez Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90022 [email protected]

One of the most mysterious, enigmatic and fascinating palms must be Juania

australis. Its isolated habitat alone, on Robinson Crusoe Island (Juan Fernández)

off the coast of Chile, is more than sufficient to conjure up images of a remote,

far away, mysterious land, while the name of the island itself and its past role in

literary lore add immeasurably to this mystique. I visited Chile in November, 2010

with Marianne Hodel and Steve Daugherty, my former college roommate, to

explore for the rare J. australis in its isolated, island habitat and to observe the

famous and well known Jubaea chilensis in the wild.

PALMS 56(1): 11–20

1. At theHacienda delas Palmas deCocalán southof Santiago,Chile, theextensivepopulation ofJubaea chilensisinhabits theflat valleybottom and issemi-managedfor thebountiful cropof edible seedscalled coquitos.