Chuniophoeniceae

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Chuniophoeniceae
Chuniophoenix nana in cultivation at Garfield Park Conservatory
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Coryphoideae
Tribe: Chuniophoeniceae
J.Dransf., N.W.Uhl, C. Asmussen, W.J. Baker, M.M. Harley & C.E. Lewis
Type genus
Chuniophoenix
Genera

Chuniophoenix Burret
Kerriodoxa J.Dransf.
Nannorrhops H.Wendl.
Tahina J.Dransf. & Rakotoarinivo

Chuniophoeniceae is a tribe of palms in subfamily Coryphoideae of plant family Arecaceae.[1][2] The four genera within the tribe are morphologically dissimilar and do not have overlapping distributions. Three of the genera are monotypic, while the fourth genus (Chuniophoenix) has three species.[3][4]

Outwardly, the palms in the four genera of Chuniophoeniceae appear quite different. Chuniophoenix are small palms from the forest understory with clustered stems; Kerriodoxa is a squat, single-stemmed rainforest palm; Nannorrhops is a sprawling desert palm with branching stems; and Tahina is a massive solitary palm from exposed limestone outcrops.[3][5][4][6] They differ significantly in their flowering strategies, too. Chuniophoenix species flower regularly throughout their lives (pleonanthic) and produce hermaphroditic flowers (rarely single gender); Kerriodoxa are also pleonanthic, but are always dioecious; Nannorrhops stems die after flowering (hapaxanthic), though the much-branched plant survives; Tahina produces a massive terminal inflorescence and dies after fruiting. All Chuniophoeniceae have palmate leaves with induplicate folds and tubular bracts partially enclosing the flowers.[3][4][5][6]

Taxonomy

References

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