General Information

COMMON NAMES: Red Latan-palm, Red Latan; German Rote Latanpalme GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Reunion (Mascarenes) COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands, gardens SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental leaves KEY FEATURES: Solitary unisex palm with large fan-like leaves. LEAVES fan-like with main central rib, 2mØ, longest segments to 150x8cm; free-section 50%, edge red with small spines, midrib ventral, furry; seam-rib dorsal, high, red; hastula wide and round, raised 2cm; stalk to 180cm, U-shaped, edge red with small spines. FLOWERS sexes on different plants (=dioecious); males along branches slender and hanging; female ~1 branch, rigid. FRUIT pear-shaped, to 4cm. SEEDS woody, tear-shaped, low ridges. SIMILAR SPECIES: Blue Latan (Latania loddigesii) has hastula long with blunt end (vs wide and round); seed with high ribs 1-2 reaching sharp-end (vs low and barely reaching apex). Yellow Latan (Latania verschaffeltii) has hastua small and barely protruding, with leaf-stalk, costa and midrib yellow (not presently recorded in Cook Islands).

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
	-	-	-	-		-		-

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Latania lontaroides (Gaertn.)
SYNONYMS: Latania borbonica; Latania commersonii; Latania rubra

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); ARECIDAE; Arecales; ARECACEAE

IDENTIFICATION: Solitary unisex palm to 15m with large fan-like leaves. TRUCK stout, scarred. LEAVES grey-green, fan-like with central main-midrib (=costa), 2mØ; main segments to 150x8cm, midrib ventral and furry; free-section more than 50%, edge red with small spines; seam-rib (=costa) topside, red; hastula red, wide and round, to 2cm high; stalk to 180cm, U-shaped, edge red and armed with small spines; stalk-base split. FLOWERS sexes on different plants (=dioecious), among the leaves, to 150cm; male small along hanging branches (=rachillae) to 30cm; female usually on one branch. FRUIT pearshaped, to 4x2cm, 1-3 seeds, green-brown. SEEDS teardroplike with low ribs on rounded end.

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.102 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.638 Hortus 3rd
p.650 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.785 Tropica
p.1/402 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

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