Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Bonsai Palm
Description
Genus Dypsis
Trunks
erect
, clustered, less than 15 cm diam., clustering
, erect, with conspicuous
nodal
rings
, unarmed
, occasionally branching near base
. Leaves: leaf bases unarmed, yellowish, forming distinct
crownshaft
; blade
pinnate [undivided], unarmed; plication
reduplicate
; segments lanceolate, evenly spaced, strongly ascending
; apices acuminate. Inflorescences axillary
below crown of leaves, paniculate
, with 3 orders
of branching; prophyll small; peduncular bracts caducous
, tubular
. Flowers unisexual
, sessile, in triads
of 1 pistillate
flower flanked by 2 staminate flowers
. Staminate flowers: sepals 3, imbricate, free
; petals 3, briefly connate
basally, valvate
; stamens 6, free; anthers
dorsifixed
; pistillode
present. Pistillate flowers: sepals 3, imbricate, free; petals 3, imbricate, free; staminodes 6, minute; pistil 1; ovules 1; stigmas 3. Fruits drupes, ellipsoid
; exocarp
yellow, smooth
; mesocarp
fleshy
; endocarp thin, fibrous
, terete
in cross
section
. Seeds ovoid
; endosperm homogeneous
; embryo subbasal
; eophyll
2-cleft; segments lanceolate.
Species 140: native
to Africa (Madagascar and adjacent
islands).
Dypsis is a morphologically diverse
genus restricted
to Madagascar and adjacent islands. The genus has recently been revised and substantially expanded by J. Dransfield and H. J. Beentje (1995b). The most familiar species, D. lutescens (H. Wendland) Beentje & J. Dransfield, is hardly representative of the astonishing diversity
in growth form
, leaf shape, floral
details, and fruit morphology found in the genus.[1]
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,490 meters (0 to 8,169 feet).[2]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- (Auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
()
- Auct.
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Subclass:
Arecidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Arecanae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Arecales
()
- Bromhead, 1840
- Family:
Palmae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons., nom. alt.
- Subfamily:
Arecoideae
()
- Tribe:
Areceae
()
- Subtribe:
Dypsidinae
()
- Subtribe:
Dypsidinae
(
- Tribe:
Areceae
(
- Subfamily:
Arecoideae
(
- Family:
Palmae
(
- Order:
Arecales
(
- Superorder:
Arecanae
(
- Subclass:
Arecidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Last scrutiny: 11-Nov-2003
Similar Species
Members of the genus Dypsis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 50 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
D. albofarinosa (White Powder Palm) · D. ambositrae (Ambositra Palm) · D. arenarum (Sand Palm) · D. baronii (Dypsis) · D. basilongus (Dypsis) · D. bejofo (Brain Seed Palm) · D. bonsai (Bonsai Palm) · D. cabadae (Cabada Palm) · D. cabadae x leptocheilos (Dypsis) · D. carlsmithii (Stumpy Palm) · D. ceracea (Dypsis) · D. crinita (Vonitra Palm) · D. decaryi (Three Cornered Palm) · D. decipiens (Manambe Palm) · D. fasciculata (Dypsis) · D. fibrosa (Dypsis) · D. florencei (Candy Cane Palm) · D. forcifolia (Dypsis) · D. hovomantsina (Hovomantsina Palm) · D. integra (Dypsis) · D. lanceolata (Dypsis) · D. lantzeana (Dypsis) · D. lastelliana (Red Neck Palm) · D. leptocheilos (Redneck Palm) · D. lutescens (Areca Palm) · D. madagascariensis (Hirihiry) · D. malcomberi (Malcomber´s Palm) · D. mananjarensis (Mealy Bug Palm) · D. moorei (Moore Palm) · D. nauseosa (Dypsis) · D. onilahensis (Onilahy Palm) · D. oreophila (Dypsis) · D. pembana (Pemba Palm) · D. pinnatifrons (Madagascan Palm) · D. pinnatifrons 'Pink Crownshaft' (Dypsis) · D. prestoniana (Tavilo Palm) · D. procera (Dypsis) · D. psammophila (Dypsis) · D. rivularis (Sari Palm) · D. saintelucei (Sainte-Luce Palm) · D. sanctaemariae (Sainte-Marie Palm) · D. scottiana (Raosy Palm) · D. soanieranae (Soanierana Palm) · D. thouarsiana (Dypsis) · D. tsaravoasira (Beragoka Palm) · D. utilis (Vonitra Palm) · D. 'Mahajanga' (Dypsis) · D. 'Slick Willy' (Dypsis) · D. 'Weeping Leaf Form' (Dypsis) · D. 'White Stem' (Dypsis)
More Info
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- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 23, 2007:
- Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 8818093
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-65414
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15049992
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:985382-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 985382-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 2061932
Footnotes
- "Dypsis". in Flora of North America Vol. 22 Page 115. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- Mean = 638.350 meters (2,094.324 feet), Standard Deviation = 766.690 based on 17 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
