Hydriastele is a diverse and widespread genus of flowering plant in the palm family found throughout northern Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Southeast Asia. It consisted of just nine species until 2004, when molecular research, supported by morphologic similarities, led taxonomists to include the members of the Gulubia, Gronophyllum, and Siphokentia genera. About 40 species are now recognized.[2]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hydriastele.
Descriptionedit
The palms now classified in this genus have uniting traits but are nonetheless diverse. Pleonanthy, monoecy, crownshafts, peduncular bracts, and the lack of armament characterize all members. The trunks may be solitary or suckering and may be diminutive to robust, spanning a range of heights. The leaves are pinnate and widely varied. The inflorescences are branched to three orders with both male and female flowers, some of which are beetle-pollinated.[3] The fruit may be ellipsoidal or spherical and colored yellow, orange, red, purple, or black when ripe, each with a single seed.
Several of these palms are cultivated and typically require conditions resembling those of their range. The trunks of some species are used as wall and floorboard components in house construction or split and fashioned into spears.[3]
Referencesedit
^ ab"Hydriastele". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
^Baker, W.J. "A synopsis of the genus Hydriastele (Arecaceae)". Archived from the original on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
^ abUhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN 0-935868-30-5 / ISBN 978-0-935868-30-2
^a The original website at palmguide.org has been usurped and its full content is no longer available. This link is an incomplete archive of the original.