FIELDIANA: BOTANY
A Continuation of the
BOTANICAL SERIES
of
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
VOLUME 32
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
CHICAGO, U.S.A.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. A New Guatemalan Spigelia. By Dorothy N. Gibson 1
2. Three New Nicaraguan Epidendrums. By Alfonso H. Heller 7
3. Syagrus oleracea ( Mart. ) Becc. and Closely Related Taxa. By
S. F. Glassman ^
4. Tropical American Plants, X. By Louis O. Williams 35
5. Two New Guatemalan Tournefortias. By Dorothy N. Gibson 65
6. A New Member of Morganella. By Patricio Ponce de Leon 69
7. A New Odontoglossum from Nicaragua. By Alfonso H. Heller 73
8. Studies in the Palm Genus Syagrus Mart. II. By S. F. Glassman 77
9. Revision of the Genus Vascellum ( Ly coper daceae ). By Patricio
Ponce de Leon 109
10. A Conspectus of the Palm Genus Butia Becc. By S. F. Glassman 127
11. Studies in American Plants, II. By Dorothy N. Gibson 173
12. Tropical American Plants, XI. By Louis O. Williams .179
13. The Juglandaceae of Guatemala. By Louis O. Williams and Antonio
Molina R 207
14. An Overlooked Genus of the Scrophulariaceae. By Louis O. Williams 211
15. A Synopsis of the Palm Genus Syagrus Mart. By S. F. Glassman 215
16. A New Hybrid in the Palm Genus Syagrus Mart. By S. F. Glassman . , . . 241
A NEW GUATEMALAN SPIGELIA
DOROTHY N. GIBSON
THREE NEW NICARAGUAN EPIDENDRUMS
ALFONSO H. HELLER
SYAGRUS OLERACEA (MART.) BECC.
AND CLOSELY RELATED TAXA
S. F. GLASSMAN
TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, X
LOUIS 0. WILLIAMS
FIELDIANA: BOTANY
VOLUME 32, NUMBERS 1, 2, 3, 4
Published by
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
AUGUST 19, 1968
Tfce Ubwnf of the
A NEW GUATEMALAN SPIGELIA
DOROTHY N. GIBSON
Custodian of the Herbarium
Field Museum of Natural History
THREE NEW NICARAGUAN EPIDENDRUMS
ALFONSO H. HELLER
Associate, Field Museum of Natural History
SYAGRUS OLERACEA (MART.) BECC
AND CLOSELY RELATED TAXA
S. F. GLASSMAN
Research Associate, Palms
Field Museum of Natural History
and
University of Illinois, Chicago Circle
TROPICAL AMERICAN PLANTS, X
LOUIS 0. WILLIAMS
Chief Curator, Botany
Field Museum of Natural History
FIELDIANA: BOTANY
VOLUME 32, NUMBERS 1, 2, 3, 4
Published by
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
AUGUST 19, 1968
CONTENTS
A New Guatemalan Spigelia by Dorothy N. Gibson 5
Three New Nicaraguan Epidendrums by Alfonso H. Heller 7
Syagrus oleracea (Mart.) Becc. and Closely Related Taxa by S. F. Glassman . 13
Tropical American Plants, X by Louis O. Williams 35
FIELDIANA . BOTANY
Volume 32, No. 3 August 19, 1968 Publication 1054
Syagrus oleracea (Mart.) Becc. and
Closely Related Taxa1
S. F. GLASSMAN
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, PALMS
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
AND
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO CIRCLE
Distinguishing Syagrus oleracea from some other members in the
genus, as is the case with many genera of palms, is difficult because
of inadequate descriptions and insufficient material collected from
each tree. This species, which is distributed mainly in eastern Brazil,
was originally described by Martius under Cocos in 1826. His descrip-
tion is rather lengthy, but certain diagnostic characters are omitted
(i.e., width of middle pinnae, length and width of spathe, length
of branched part of spadix, length of individual spadix branches,
and size of female flowers). Included with Martius' description is
an illustration (t. 82) which shows a partially opened spathe, part
of a spadix, the upper third of a leaf with the terminal pinnae re-
moved, and several male and female flowers (fig. 1). An illustration
by Barbosa Rodrigues (1903, t. 84) also shows fruits (fig. 2). The
lectotype (Martius 1595, M) consists of parts of a leaf, a spathe,
parts of a spadix, and a package of male and female flowers. Many
other herbarium specimens (more than 30 numbers) of S. oleracea
have been seen by me, but most of these lack certain diagnostic parts.
During the summer of 1965 I made rather extensive collections
of complete leaves, spathes and spadices and mature flowers and
fruits of this species in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil (Classman &
Gomes 8001, 8003, 8006, 8009, CHI). After comparing these speci-
mens with others I had studied and after observing hundreds of trees
in Sao Paulo, I now have a much clearer picture of the morphological
limits and range of variation of Syagrus oleracea. Below is the syn-
onymy for this species, followed by an emended description.
hs study has been supported by National Science Foundation Grant
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number. 68-31881
13
COI'O.S nlrr:i«-r;i
FIG. 1. Cocos oleracea. After Martius, 1826, t.
14
•Oo
FIG. 2. Cocos oleracea. After Barbosa Rodrigues, 1903, t. 84.
15
FIG. 3. Cocos picrophylla. After Barbosa Rodrigues, 1903, t. 66.
16
GLASSMAN: SYAGRUS OLERACEA AND RELATED TAXA 17
Syagrus oleracea (Mart.) Becc., L'Agric. Colon. 10: 467. 1916.
Cocos oleracea Mart., Hist. Nat. Palm. 2: 117, t. 82. 1826. C.
oleracea var. platyphylla Drude in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2: 417. 1881.
S. oleracea var. platyphylla (Drude) Becc., L'Agric. Colon. 10: 467.
1916. S. picrophylla Barb. Rodr., Prot. App. 45. 1879. C. picro-
phylla (Barb. Rodr.) Barb. Rodr., Les Palm. 26, t. 3, fig. 2a, b. 1882;
Sert. Palm. Bras. 1 : t. 65A-66. 1903.
Palm 10-20 m. tall— fide Drude (18-24 m.— fide Martius), trunk up to 30 cm.
or more in diameter. Naked petiole 4-17 cm. long, sheathing base 45-95 cm. long,
deteriorating into separate fibers; rachis of leaf 175-263 cm. long, pinnae 134-152
pairs, mostly in clusters of 3-4 (2-5), slightly glaucous or eglaucous on both sur-
faces, middle ones up to 80 (88) cm. long and 2.7-4.0 (4.5) cm. wide, mostly with
acuminate tips; expanded part of spathe 54-100 cm. long and 9-14 cm. wide;
branched part of spadix 40-68 cm. long, branches up to 50 or more in number,
each branch up to 45 cm. or more long; male flowers 10-14 mm. long on upper
part, 15-22 mm. long on lower part; female flowers 12-22 mm. long, 6-10 mm.
wide; mature fruit ovoid, 4.0-5.2 (5.5) cm. long and 2.5-3 (3.5) cm. in diameter,
with beak up to 7 mm. long, endocarp 5-8 mm. thick along sides, 7-13 mm. thick
at ends, cavity mostly smooth; seed 2.0-2.5 cm. long, 1.3-1.5 cm. in diameter,
cavity about 1.0 cm. long, 0.8 cm. wide.
In 1881, Drude described var. platyphylla as having a shorter
trunk, wider pinnae and longer male flowers than var. oleracea. The
holotype and isotypes of var. platyphylla (Glaziou 8063, C; A, NY,
P, US) have pinnae up to 3.6 cm. wide, male flowers up to 16 mm.
long, and female flowers 12-16 mm. long, all of which fall within the
range of var. oleracea. Paratypes of var. platyphylla (Glaziou 7000,
C, P; SOW, C, FI, K, P; 9010, A, C, FI, K, LE, NY, P, R, S) also
resemble other specimens of var. oleracea closely. It is interesting
to note that female flowers of different specimens of Glaziou 9010
measure 12-14, 13-15, 14-16, and 15-18 mm. long.
The description of S. picrophylla by Barbosa Rodrigues (1903)
is very brief, e.g., width of pinnae and size of female flowers are not
mentioned, and no type specimens are cited nor could any be found.
An illustration (fig. 3) of diagnostic parts published at a later date
by Barbosa Rodrigues (1903, t. 66), however, seems to be a close
match for specimens of S. oleracea.
According to Beccari (1886), t. 82 of Martius (1826) consists of
two different species. Figure II (part of spadix with individual
flowers) corresponds to Glaziou 12255 and is Cocos oleracea which has
long female flowers (20 mm. more or less) and wide pinnae (40-43
mm.) ; and fig. Ill (upper third of leaf blade with tip removed ) cor-
responds to Glaziou 9010 and is C. picrophylla which has short female
•
FIG. 4. Syagrus gomesii Classman. Whole inflorescence of holotype. Classman
& Gomes 8005 (CHI).
18
FIG. 5. Syagrus gomesii Glassman. Part of leaf of holotype. Glassman &
Gomes 8005 (CHI).
19
20 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 32
f
FIG. 6. Syagrus gomesii. Female (left) and male flowers.
flowers (12 mm. more or less) and narrow pinnae (26-30 mm.). It
is difficult to tell accurately the size of flowers or width of pinnae
from an illustration. Furthermore, the pinnae from the upper sec-
tion of the blade are mostly narrower than those from the middle
section. Variation of the flower size of Glaziou 9010 already has been
mentioned, and its pinnae are 28-35 mm. wide. Specimens of Gla-
ziou 12255 (C, K, LE, P) which I saw have female flowers 13-18 mm.
long and pinnae 38-44 mm. wide.
In 1939, Bondar considered Cocos picrophylla to be synonymous
with C. botryophora Martius, but in a later article (1964) he treated
them as separate species. In 1964, Bondar also treated C. picrophylla
and C. oleracea as distinct taxa. He gave the distribution of C.
picrophylla as suburbs of Vitoria, state of Espirito Santo, and that
of C. oleracea as a triangular area bordering on the states of Minas
Gerais and Goyaz. Specimens collected from Vitoria (Bondar 15, F)
have female flowers measuring 12-13 mm. and 15-18 mm. long, and
pinnae 35-40 mm. wide.
GLASSMAN: SYAGRUS OLERACEA AND RELATED TAXA 21
Other collections showing variation are Glaziou 13295 (C, F, FI,
P) with female flowers 16-18 and 17-22 mm. long, and pinnae 34-40
mm. wide; and Glassman & Gomes 8001 (CHI) with female flowers
FIG. 7. Syagrus gomesii.
sections.
External view of fruit with longitudinal and cross-
17-19 and 20-22 mm. long, and pinnae up to 30 mm. wide. It is
evident that two distinct taxa cannot be differentiated on the basis
of flower length and pinnae width alone. Unfortunately, other diag-
nostic features such as rachis length, number of pinnae per leaf,
length of middle pinnae, and size and morphology of mature fruit,
cannot be determined from most herbarium specimens studied.
Syagrus oleracea is found mainly in eastern Brazil including the
states of Parana, Sao Paulo, Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro), Espirito
Santo, Minas Gerais, Goyaz, Bahia, Pernambuco, Parahyba, and
Ceara. Specimens of S. oleracea also have been seen from Paraguay
(Hassler 1233, G). In Sao Paulo, this species is particularly abun-
dant near Marilia, Pompeia, and Tupa, where it forms stands of
200-3,000 trees along with Syagrus romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glassman
and other species of Syagrus. In the field, one of these taxa is readily
distinguished from both S. oleracea and S. romanzoffiana by its much
taller and narrower trunk and much shorter leaves. A search of the
literature fails to reveal any definite record of this palm; therefore,
I am describing it as a new species:
22
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 32
FIG. 8. Syagrus gomesii. Tall, thin tree (left center) in stand with S. roman-
zoffiana and S. oleracea. Sao Paulo, 3 km. north of Pompeia.
Syagrus gomesii Glassman sp. nov. Figures 4-8.
Palma 36 m. alta. Folia ca. 160 cm. longa; rachis ca. 120 cm. longis pinnae
utrinque 100 in gregibus dispositus pinniis ca. 42 cm. longis 2.4 cm. latis; spatha
pars inflata 46 cm. longa 9 cm. lata; spadix pars ramosa 33 cm. longa rami numerosi
21 cm. longi; floresmasculi 10-11 mm. et 13-16 mm. longi; floresfeminei 15-18 mm.
longi 6-7 mm. lati; fructus ovoideus 5 cm. longus, 2.7 cm. diam.; semen 1.8 cm.
longum, 1.2-1.3 cm. diam.
Palm up to 36 m. tall, trunk about 15 cm. in diameter. Naked petiole up to
4 cm. long, sheathing base up to 36 cm. long, deteriorating into separate fibers;
rachis of leaf up to 120 cm. long, up to 100 pairs of pinnae, in clusters of 2-4,
glaucous on upper surface, middle ones up to 42 cm. long and 2.4 cm. wide, mostly
with acuminate tips; expanded part of spathe up to 46 cm. long and 9 cm. wide;
branched part of spadix up to 33 cm. long, branches numerous, each branch up to
21 cm. long; male flowers 10-11 mm. long on upper part, 13-16 mm. long on lower
part; female flowers 15-18 mm. long, 6-7 mm. wide; fruit ovoid, up to 5 cm. long
and 2.7 cm. in diameter, with beak up to 5 mm. long, endocarp 5-6 mm. thick
along sides, 9 mm. thick at ends, cavity mostly smooth; seed 1.8 cm. long, 1.2-1.3
cm. in diameter, cavity 1.0 cm. long, 0.8 cm. wide.
BRAZIL: State of Sao Paulo, 3 km. north of Pompeia, Hacienda
Gueivira, property of Dr. Mario Bastos, in formation of about 3,000
palm trees, associated with S. oleracea and S. romanzoffiana, July 4,
1965, Glassman & Gomes 8005 (CHI).
GLASSMAN: SYAGRUS OLERACEA AND RELATED TAXA 23
FIG. 9. Cocos oleracea. After Barbosa Rodrigues, 1903, t. 83.
I am dedicating this new species to Mr. J. C. Gomes, who was
killed in an auto accident in Brazil during one of our collecting trips.
See Glassman (1967) for further details.
Syagrus gomesii is one of the tallest, if not the tallest, known
species of Syagrus. Apparently, the same tall, narrow -trunked tree
was seen by us as scattered individuals between Belo Horizonte and
Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. An illustration of a tall tree labelled
Cocos oleracea by Barbosa Rodrigues (1903, t. 83} may be the species
described above, but the leaves appear to be too long (fig. 9). The
\ 1 KLS
\ k : /'.
FIG. 10. Syaj/rws x teixeiriana Glassman. Part of inflorescence of holotype. Glass-
man & Gomes 8008 (CHI).
24
FIG. 11. Syagrus x teixeiriana Glassman. Part of infructescence of holotype
Glassman & Gomes 8008 (CHI).
25
26
FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 32
\
FIG. 12. Syagrus x teixeiriana Classman. Part of leaf of holotype. Glassman
& Gomes 8008 (CHI).
new species most closely resembles S. oleracea in the clustering of the
pinnae, the size of the male and female flowers, and the size and shape
of the fruit. Differences in the two species are shown in the following
key:
GLASSMAN: SYAGRUS OLERACEA AND RELATED TAXA 27
FIG. 13. Syagrus x teixeiriana. Longitudinal and cross-sections of fruit.
Tree up to 36 m. tall, trunk up to 15 cm. in diameter, leaf rachis up to 120 cm.
long, pinnae up to 100 pairs, each up to 42 cm. long S. gomesii
Tree usually 10-20 m. tall, trunk up to 30 cm. or more in diameter, leaf rachis
175-263 cm. long, pinnae 134-152 pairs, each up to 80 cm. long S. oleracea
In another stand of S. oleracea and S. romanzoffiana, we found a
tree which appeared to be a hybrid between the two species. I am
naming this taxon after Dr. Alcides Teixeira, Director of the Insti-
tute de Botanica, Sao Paulo, to whom I am deeply grateful for greatly
facilitating my collecting of palms in Brazil.1
Syagrus x teixeiriana Classman, hybr. nov. Figures 10-15.
Palma hybrida ca. 4.1 m. alta; folia ca. 269 cm. longa, rachis ca. 210 m. longis
pinnae utrinque 149 in gregibus dispositus pinniis ca. 66 cm. longis 2.7 cm. latis;
spatha pars inflata 82 cm. longa 13 cm. lata; spadix pars ramosa 56 cm. longa
1 After reading my writeup of this species, Dr. Wessels Boer of Utricht (per-
sonal communication) suggested that S. gomesii may be merely an advanced
growth stage of S. oleracea. He has seen similar situations in other genera of palms
in Surinam and Venezuela where the oldest trees of a particular stand had much
taller and narrower trunks and much shorter leaves than the normal population
of that species. It will be interesting to explore this theory further on my next
trip to Brazil.
FIG. 14. Syagrus x teixeiriana. Tree showing inflorescences and infructescences.
Sao Paulo, 20 km. north of Tupa.
28
GLASSMAN: SYAGRUS OLERACEA AND RELATED TAXA 29
FIG. 15. Syagrus x teixeiriana. J. C. Gomes holding infructescence and inflores-
cence. Leaves on ground. Same locality as Figure 14.
rachilliis ca. 38, 41 cm. longis; flores masculi 8-12 mm. et 15-17 mm. longi; flores
feminei 7.0-7.5 cm. longi 5-7 mm. lati; fructus ovoideus 3 cm. longus 2 cm. diam.;
semen 1.3-1.4 cm. longum, 0.7 cm. diam.
Hybrid palm about 4.1 m. tall, trunk about 15 cm. in diameter. Naked
petiole up to 6 cm. long, sheathing base up to 53 cm. long, deteriorating into
separate fibers; rachis of leaf up to 210 cm. long, up to 149 pairs of pinnae, mostly
in clusters of 4 (3-5), slightly glaucous on both surfaces, middle ones up to 66 cm.
long and 2.7 cm. wide, mostly with long acuminate tips; expanded part of spathe
up to 82 cm. long and 13 cm. wide; branched part of spadix up to 56 cm. long
(fruiting — up to 81 cm. long), branches about 38 in number, each branch up to
41 cm. long (fruiting — 86 branches, each up to 48 cm. long); male flowers 8-12
mm. long on upper part, 15-17 mm. long on lower part; female flowers 7-7.5 cm.
long, 5-7 mm. wide; fruit ovoid, up to 3 cm. long and 2 cm. in diameter, with very
short beak, endocarp 4-4.5 mm. thick along sides, up to 7 mm. thick at ends,
cavity smooth inside, but slightly irregular in shape; seed (only one seen) insepar-
able from endocarp cavity, 1.3-1.4 cm. long, 0.7 cm. in diameter, cavity 7 mm.
long, 2 mm. wide.
FIG. 16. Syagrus romanzoffiana. Tree showing inflorescence. Sao Paulo, 18 km.
east of Marilia.
FIG. 17. Syagrus romanzoffiana. J. C. Gomes holding leaf. Locality same as
Figure 16.
30
CLASSMAN: SYAGRUS OLERACEA AND RELATED TAXA 31
FIG. 18. Syagrus romanzoffiana. J. C. Gomes holding inflorescence and infruc-
tescences. Locality same as Figure 16.
BRAZIL: State of Sao Paulo, 20 km. north of Tupa, Fazenda
Vanuir, part of stand of about 1,000 palm trees, associated with
S. oleracea and S. romanzoffiana, July 5, 1965, Glassman & Gomes
8008 (CHI).
Collections were made from only one tree of this taxon. There
were probably other hybrid trees, but due to lack of time no others
were found. The following table shows relationships between the
hybrid and its two putative parent species. Since only one specimen
of S. x teixeiriana was collected, measurements for the parent species
are based mainly on specimens collected in the same stand rather
than on extreme measurements.
Length and width
of female flowers
Fruit length and
diameter
Beak
Endocarp cavity
Seed length and
diameter
Seed shape and
position
Seed cavity
4.5-5.5 X4-5 mm. 7.0-7.5 X5-7 mm.
3X2 cm.
2.0-2.2 X
1.4-1.5 cm.
Very short
Very short
Very irregular in Slightly irregular
outline, grooved in outline.slightly
within
0.8X0.6 cm.
grooved within
1.3-1.4X0.7 cm.
Gibbous-uncinate, Narrowly ovate,
inseparable from inseparable from
fruit fruit
18-22X8-9 mm.
4.0X2.5 cm.
About 5 mm. long
Regular in outline,
smooth within
2.0X1.3 cm.
Ovate, readily
separable from fruit
Very small or none Large and narrow Large and rounded
Analysis of the above chart shows that S. x teixeiriana is similar
to S. romanzoffiana (figs. 16-18) in the rachis length, the number of
pinnae per leaf, the short beaked fruit, and seed being inseparable
from the fruit; and it resembles S. oleracea (fig. 19) in the width of
the middle pinnae, the number of spadix branches, the seed shape,
and the large seed cavity. The hybrid is more or less intermediate
between the two species in the length of the branched part of the
spadix and the individual spadix branches, the width of the female
flowers, the length and diameter of the fruit, the shape of the endo-
carp cavity, and the length of the seed. In addition to this, the
length of the middle pinnae of all three taxa is about equal and the
female flowers in S. x teixeiriana are about 2 mm. longer than those
of S. romanzoffiana.
CLASSMAN: SYAGRUS OLERACEA AND RELATED TAXA 33
FIG. 19. Syagrus oleracea. J. C. Gomes holding inflorescence and infructescence.
Leaves on ground. Locality same as Figure 16.
REFERENCES
BARBOSA RODRIGUES, J.
1903. Sert. Palm. Bras. 1: t. 83-8^.
BECCARI, O.
1886. Le Palme incluse nel genera Cocos Linn. Malpighia 1: 448.
BONDAR, G.
1939. Palmeiras da Bahia. Inst. Centr. Fom. Econ. Bahia Bol. 6: 9-10
1964. Palmeiras do Brasil. 80, 84. Sao Paulo.
GLASSMAN, S.
1967. Collecting palms in Brazil. Principes 11: 41-52, figs. 1-12.
Publications 1052, 1053, 1054, and 1055
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA