This one made me feel all happy and warm inside (and wondering if I can get one for the back garden).
Gian palm tree puzzles botanists
Gian palm tree puzzles botanists
Christ it's a big bugger! The Grauniad has more about the palm, including the fact that the new genus has been named Tahina spectabilis. Most of the media outlets have cocked this one up amazingly (sadly, courtesy of a dud press release from the Linnean Society, who need to give their press officer a talking to), saying that "spectabilis" means "to be protected" or "blessed". Umm... I know of a couple of readers who probably know a bit of Malagasy, but I'm sure the rest of you were under the impression that "spectabilis" was a Latin word... I think they mean the word "Tahina" is the Malagasy word for "blessed", but you never know with the mass media.
And in fact, as the Meeja blog points out, the whole flowering-then-dying thing is nothing that unusual in nature. I'm not a botanist, so I don't know if it's all been garbled from an unknown source Q-like in nature, and whether it's unusual because it is literally the amount of energy expended in producing the flower that kills it (do other monocarpic plants die in that manner or is their death a natural senescence or a chemical signal?). What is interesting is that all other members of that family (Chuniophoeniceae), are from Asia. I'd like to read more about that. The journal article is available here but I don't have access. Humph.
But nevertheless, it's an awesomely huge palm. Not as tall as some of the palms I've seen on Venice Beach (are they Washingtonia? If so, I'm going to need a bigger garden already), but the flowering stalk is massive. So for being so oversized (and not for the fact that it dies after flowering - let's face it, death soon after reproduction is not unusual in the plant or animal kingdom), and for bewildering botanists, it's very very cool.
And in fact, as the Meeja blog points out, the whole flowering-then-dying thing is nothing that unusual in nature. I'm not a botanist, so I don't know if it's all been garbled from an unknown source Q-like in nature, and whether it's unusual because it is literally the amount of energy expended in producing the flower that kills it (do other monocarpic plants die in that manner or is their death a natural senescence or a chemical signal?). What is interesting is that all other members of that family (Chuniophoeniceae), are from Asia. I'd like to read more about that. The journal article is available here but I don't have access. Humph.
But nevertheless, it's an awesomely huge palm. Not as tall as some of the palms I've seen on Venice Beach (are they Washingtonia? If so, I'm going to need a bigger garden already), but the flowering stalk is massive. So for being so oversized (and not for the fact that it dies after flowering - let's face it, death soon after reproduction is not unusual in the plant or animal kingdom), and for bewildering botanists, it's very very cool.
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