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Coccothrinax argentata

(Florida Silver Palm)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Chinese:

Fo Zhou Yin Lü

Common Names in English:

Florida Silver Palm, Biscayne Palm, Silver Palm, Silver Thatch, Silver Thatch Palm, Silvertop

Common Names in German:

Florida-Silberpalme

Description

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Genus Coccothrinax

Plants small to moderate. Stems solitary or occasionally caespitose , erect , slender, at first covered with leaf sheaths . Leaves: sheath fibers soft, netlike, eventually sloughing off to reveal smooth to fissured stem; petiole not split at base , unarmed ; abaxial hastula a low ridge or absent; adaxial hastula a crescent-shaped ridge to semi-cylindric excrescence ; blade palmate; plication induplicatee (V-shaped) ; segments lanceolate, basally connate ; cross veins obscure [conspicuous ]. Inflores cences interfoliar, downcurved [long and arching ], not extending beyond leaves, with 2 orders of branching; prophyll short, peduncular bracts several, sterile , tubular , distally expanded, silky-pubescent; primary branches subtended by smaller peduncular bracts. Flowers bisexual , borne singly along rachillae, short-pedicellate; perianth 1-seriate, shallowly cupulate , lobes 5--7, apiculate ; stamens 7--12; filaments acute; anthers dorsifixed , twisted when dry; pistils 1, 1-carpellate, glabrous ; style slender; stigma funnelform . Fruits globose ; stigmatic scar apical; exocarp purplish, smooth, slightly warty when dry; mesocarp fleshy ; endocarp membranaceous . Seeds globose, irregularly brain-shaped; endosperm homogeneous , bony; embryo apical [superior]; eophyll undivided, lanceolate.

Species 14--50 (1 in the flora ) : Caribbean Basin .

Coccothrinax shares a similar floral morphology with Thrinax, and like Thrinax it is wind pollinated. Fruits of C. argentata are one of the most important foods of Florida€™s Key deer (W. D. Klimstra and A. L. Dooley 1990), but seeds are not excreted intact (W. D. Klimstra, pers. comm. ) .

Coccothrinax includes a great number of species with ornamental potential, and many of the cultivated ones are discussed by C. E. Nauman and R. W. Sanders (1991) . Because of their generally small and slender stature and their predictable growth form , they make elegant horticultural subjects.

Theis genus is in dire need of systematic study.[1]

Physical Description

Species Coccothrinax argentata

Stems generally solitary, 0--3 m , occasionally with vegetative sprouts forming on trunk . Leaves less than 1 m wide; segments silvery abaxially, stiff or lax . Inflorescences compact , not exceeding leaves; rachillae stiff; pedicels conspicuous . Fruits dark purple-black, globose , 6.5--12 mm diam. 2n = 36. [source]

It is usually a small, single-trunked palm but occasionally develops multiple stems. It is most easily distinguished from Thrinax morrisii, with which it is sometimes confused in Florida, by the obscure transverse venation in the leaves and the purple-black fruits on long pedicels (versus conspicuous transverse venation and white fruits on short pedicels in T. morrisii). [source]

This species has been reported (C. E. Nauman 1990) to produce sterile natural hybrids with Thrinax morrissii in the Florida Keys where the two species are sympatric. [source]

Habit: Tree , Shrub

Flowers: Bloom Period: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October.

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 12-15' tall.

Habitat

Rocky, calcareous soil of coastal hammocks and scrub ; 0--10 m (Ref. 53395).

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of 2 meters (7 feet).[2]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 4-6' apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

C. jucunda Sargent • Coccothrinax garberi (Chapman) Sargent • Fragm. Bot. • Palma argentata Jacquin • Plate 43 • T. garberi Chapman • Thrinax argentea Loddiges ex Schultes & Schultes f. var. garberi (Chapman) Chapman

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 11-Nov-2003

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Coccothrinax

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 13 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. argentata (Florida Silver Palm) · C. argentea (Silver Thatch Palm) · C. barbadensis (Barbados Silver Palm) · C. borhidiana (Borhidis Guano Palm) · C. crinita (Old Man Palm) · C. crinita brevicrinis (Short Hair Old Man Palm) · C. crinita crinita (Old Man Palm) · C. inaguensis (Thatch Palm) · C. litoralis (Cuban Silver Palm) · C. miraguama (Miraguama Palm) · C. proctorii (Cayman Thatch Palm) · C. readii (Mexican Silver Palm) · C. spissa (Swollen Silver Thatch Palm)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. "Coccothrinax". in Flora of North America Vol. 22 Page 99, 100. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Standard Deviation = 2.650 based on 3 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012