Compilation
Chamaerops hystrix

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Name

Identification
Chamaerops hystrix Pursh [family ARECACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Not on sheet,
Related name
  • Chamaerops hystrix
  • Chamaerops serrulata
Common name
  • Needle palm, Flora of North America Vol. 22
  • palmier a aiguilles, Flora of North America Vol. 22

Flora

Entry for Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Pursh) H. Wendland & Drude [family PALMAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 22,
Names
Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Pursh) H. Wendland & Drude [family PALMAE], Bot. Zeitung (Berlin), 34: 803. 1876
Chamaerops hystrix Pursh [family PALMAE], Fl. Amer. Sept., 1: 240. 1814
Sabal hystrix (Pursh) Nuttall [family PALMAE]
Rhapis caroliniana Hort ex Kunth [family PALMAE]
Sabal hystrix (Pursh) Nuttall [family PALMAE]
Information
Stems erect or procumbent, short, 1--7 dm, caespitose shoots often present. Leaves less than 70 cm wide; leaf sheath bearing stout emergent spinelike fibers, ca. 50 cm. Flowers yellowish. Fruits brown, ellipsoid, length ca. 2 cm, diam. 1.5 cm. 2n = 36.
Phenology
Flowering spring
Altitude range
20--100 m
Distribution
USA Ala.USA Fla.USA Ga.USA Miss.USA S.C.
Discussion
The palm usually grows prodecumbently with adventitious roots emerging from the trunk where it contacts moist soil (A. G. Shuey and R. P. Wunderlin 1977). In the wild, Rhapidophyllum forms suckers along its stem, and it is thatis vegetative reproduction, more than seedling reproduction, that maintains most populations (K. E. Clancy and M. J. Sullivan 1988).
Flowers are protandrous and most likely to be pollinated by a species of Notolomus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). The evil-smelling and curiously hirsute fruits are taken by black bears (D. S. Maehr and J. R. Brady 1984) and other mammals (A. G. Shuey and R. P. Wunderlin 1977).

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