Arenga engleri
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Arenga engleri young palm in landscape |
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Arenga engleri older palm stem in landscape with suckering shoots |
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Arenga engleri leaf sheath fibers |
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Arenga engleri leaf tomentum (abaxial leaflets and rachis) |
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Arenga engleri leaf tomentum (close view) |
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Arenga engleri leaf tip. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php |
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Arenga engleri apical leaf tip. Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php |
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Arenga engleri rachis with leaflet attachment |
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Arenga engleri rachis with leaflet attachment |
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Arenga engleri leaflet tip |
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Arenga engleri leaflet silvery underside with midrib |
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Arenga engleri immature fruit |
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Arenga engleri ripening fruit |
Common name
dwarf sugar palm, formosa palm
Description
Stem: Clustering palm to 5 m tall, usually covered with disintegrating, fibrous leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
bases that adhere to the stem after the leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
dies and falls away. Leaves: Pinnate, to 3 m long, with leaflets that are green above and silvery below. Leaflets are induplicateinduplicate:
Most palm leaflets or leaf segments are obviously folded. If the folds create a V-shape, with the midrib lower than the margins (so that rain might fall "into a valley"), the folding is induplicate.
, the apical leaflet is praemorsepraemorse:
with a jagged edge or like a fish tail
, but other leaflets are more linearlinear:
term to describe leaves and leaflets that are narrow with nearly parallel margins; like a line
with jagged tips and margins. Flowers and fruits: Inflorescences are about 0.5 m long with many pendant branches. Flowers are yellow to orange, fragrant, with staminatestaminate:
a flower bearing stamens but no pistils; a “male” flower
and pistillatepistillate:
a flower bearing a pistil but no stamens; a “female” flower
flowers on the same inflorescenceinflorescence:
the reproductive structure of a flowering plant, including palms, consisting of flowers and associated bracts
. Ripe fruits are spherical, red, and about 1 cm long when mature. After the fruits ripen, the stem on which they grew dies while other stems in the cluster continue to grow. The fruits have a high concentration of oxalate that can be extremely irritating to human skin.
Diagnostic features
Field: a clustering palm that has pinnatepinnate:
like a feather; palms with pinnate leaves usually have compound leaflets attached to a rachis, although a pinnate leaf may be entire with pinnate veins (e.g., <em>Chamaedorea metallica</em>)
, induplicateinduplicate:
Most palm leaflets or leaf segments are obviously folded. If the folds create a V-shape, with the midrib lower than the margins (so that rain might fall "into a valley"), the folding is induplicate.
leaflets with jagged tips
Lab: dark scales along leaflet midrib
May be confused with
Arenga temula is a similar clustering palm, but its leaflets are green above and below.
Distribution
Native to Ryukyu Islands of Japan to Taiwan
Additional comments
Extreme care is required when handling the fruits of this species.
Scientific name
Arenga engleri Becc.
Family
Arecaceae/Palmae
Synonyms
Didymosperma engleri ( Becc. ) Warb.
