Myrialepis
Encyclopedia
Myrialepis is a monotypic
genus
of flowering plant
in the palm
family native to Southeast Asia
, where the only species
Myrialepis paradoxa is colloquially called rotan kertong, or simply rattan
. The genus name is a combination of the Greek
words meaning "innumerable" and "scale", a description of the fruit, and the epithet is Latin
for "paradox".
is comparatively large at 3 m, pinnate
, and carried on armed petioles, with widely and regularly spaced, dark green leaflets. The spiny rachis extends well beyond the pinnae and is accompanied by pairs of recurved barbs adapted for climbing.
Dioecious and hapaxanthic, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, and the completion of flowering results in the death of the stem. The inflorescence
is much branched, 60 cm long, and protrudes from the top of the trunk, accompanied by reduced leaves. The pistillate flower
s are twice as big as the staminate, but otherwise similar, with the former producing shiny green to brown fruit
, irregularly covered in tiny scales, each with one seed
.
, Burma, Thailand
, Cambodia
, Laos
, Sumatra
, Vietnam
and peninsular Malaysia up to 1000 m in elevation. Forming large, dense colonies they occupy rain forest, rain forest clearings, and river
banks. Being somewhat disfigured, the trunks are not used in furniture construction but are used for simple thatched basketry.
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
family native to Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, where the only species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
Myrialepis paradoxa is colloquially called rotan kertong, or simply rattan
Rattan
Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...
. The genus name is a combination of the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
words meaning "innumerable" and "scale", a description of the fruit, and the epithet is Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "paradox".
Description
The trunks are clustering and climbing at 7 cm wide and are armed with whorls of sharp, golden spines. Reaching high into the canopy, the red to brown stems retain persistent leaf sheaths in its new growth but become bare toward the base, exposing conspicuous rings of leaf scars. Each mature leafLeaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
is comparatively large at 3 m, pinnate
Pinnate
Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning "feather", "wing", or "fin". A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts...
, and carried on armed petioles, with widely and regularly spaced, dark green leaflets. The spiny rachis extends well beyond the pinnae and is accompanied by pairs of recurved barbs adapted for climbing.
Dioecious and hapaxanthic, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, and the completion of flowering results in the death of the stem. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is much branched, 60 cm long, and protrudes from the top of the trunk, accompanied by reduced leaves. The pistillate flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are twice as big as the staminate, but otherwise similar, with the former producing shiny green to brown fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
, irregularly covered in tiny scales, each with one seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
.
Distribution and habitat
This palm is found across IndochinaIndochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, Burma, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and peninsular Malaysia up to 1000 m in elevation. Forming large, dense colonies they occupy rain forest, rain forest clearings, and river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
banks. Being somewhat disfigured, the trunks are not used in furniture construction but are used for simple thatched basketry.