Pritchardia

The genus Pritchardia (family Arecaceae) consists of between 24 and 40 species of fan palms (subfamily Coryphoideae) found on tropical Pacific Ocean islands in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuamotus, and most diversely in Hawaii.[2][3] The generic name honors William Thomas Pritchard (1829-1907), a British consul at Fiji.[4]

For the insect genus, see Pritchardia (fly).

Pritchardia
Pritchardia sp. flowers and fruit on two pendulous stalks
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Coryphoideae
Tribe: Trachycarpeae
Genus: Pritchardia
Seem. & H.Wendl.[1]
Synonyms[2][1]
Pritchardia limahuliensis
Pritchardia palms

Description

These palms vary in height, ranging from 6 to 40 m (20 to 131 ft).[5] The leaves are fan-shaped (costapalmate) and the trunk columnar, naked, smooth or fibrous, longitudinally grooved, and obscurely ringed by leaf scars. The flowers and subsequent fruit are borne in a terminal cluster with simple or compound branches of an arcuate or pendulous inflorescence that (in some species) is longer than the leaves.

Species

There are 29 known species, of which 19 are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, with the remainder on other island groups. Many are critically endangered.


Formerly placed here
  • Licuala grandis (hort. ex W. Bull) H.Wendl. (as P. grandis hort. ex W. Bull) (Vanuatu)
  • Washingtonia filifera (Linden ex André) H.Wendl. (as P. filamentosa H.Wendl. ex Franceschi or P. filifera Linden ex André)[7] (Southwestern United States and Baja California)

Relationship with humans

Native Hawaiians (who call them loulu or noulu) often plant the trees in their traditional homes.[8] They often consume their seeds (known as hāwane or wāhane) raw,[9] use their trunk wood as building material and leaves as roof thatching in houses and temples.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Genus: Pritchardia Seem. & H. Wendl". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. Hodel, D.R. (2007). A review of the genus Pritchardia. Palms; Journal of the International Palm Society 51(Suppl.): 1-53.
  4. Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. 3 M-Q. CRC Press. p. 2168. ISBN 978-0-8493-2677-6.
  5. Riffle, Robert Lee; Paul Craft (2003). An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press. pp. 419–422. ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6.
  6. "Pritchardia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  7. "GRIN Species Records of Pritchardia". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  8. Meilleur, Brien A. (June 2022). "Ancient Hawaiian house lots and their flora: a review of Great Māhele plant claims with a special focus on Pritchardia (loulu) palms". Revue d'ethnoécologie (21): 16–20. doi:10.4000/ethnoecologie.9104. ISSN 2267-2419. S2CID 252169028.
  9. Chock, Alvin K. (1968). "Hawaiian Ethnobotanical Studies I. Native Food and Beverage Plants". Economic Botany. 22 (3): 232. doi:10.1007/BF02861956. ISSN 0013-0001. JSTOR 4252960. S2CID 33483410.

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