Actinorhytis calapparia (Blume) H. Wendland & Drude ex Scheffer, Arecaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 1 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Areca calapparia Blume

Common name(s): [more details]

English: calappa palm, tangalo

Malayan: pinang mawar, pinang penawar

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Tall solitary tree palm of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands with slender crownshaft, strongly arching leaves and highly branched inflorescence bearing large fruit with deeply ruminate endosperm.

"Tall, solitary, unarmed, pleonanthic, monoecious tree palms. Stem erect, bare, conspicuously marked with leaf scars, with a large mass of roots at the base. Leaves pinnate, arching, neatly abscising; sheaths tubular, forming a long, slender, well-defined crownshaft, bearing scattered caducous scales, the mouth with a short ligule; petiole very short in mature individuals (long in juveniles), adaxially channelled or flattened, abaxially rounded, densely caducously tomentose; rachis conspicuously down-curved toward the tip; leaflets very numerous, close, regularly arranged, single-fold, acute, acuminate or briefly bifid, the margins thickened, adaxially glabrous, abaxially with minute dot-like scales and conspicuous ramenta along the midrib, transverse veinlets obscure. Inflorescences infrafoliar, erect in bud, becoming horizontal or pendulous, branching to 3 orders proximally, to 1 order distally, protandrous; peduncle short, winged at the very base, grossly swollen just above the base in the centre, caducously tomentose; prophyll inserted near the base of the peduncle, tubular, beaked, 2-keeled, entirely enclosing the inflorescence in bud, sparsely scaly, splitting abaxially, deciduous; peduncular bract, inserted just above the prophyll, similar to the prophyll but scarcely 2-winged, deciduous; subsequent bracts low, triangular, inconspicuous; rachis longer than the peduncle, ± elliptic in cross-section, bearing relatively few, large, spirally arranged first-order branches, with conspicuous, bare, proximal portions; rachillae rather stiff, elongate, bearing spirally arranged triads in the proximal 1/2 to 2/3, and paired or solitary staminate flowers distally, or rarely, bearing only staminate flowers; rachilla bracts low, rounded, quite conspicuous, tending to form very shallow pits; floral bracteoles sepal-like. Staminate flowers asymmetrical in bud; sepals 3, distinct, imbricate, ± triangular-tipped, keeled; petals 3, distinct, ± ovate, valvate, ± 2-3 times as long as the sepals; stamens 24-33 or more, exserted at anthesis, filaments slender, elongate, inflexed at the tip, anthers medifixed, narrow oblong, ± versatile, latrorse; pistillode columnar, ± as long as the stamens in bud, shorter when stamens exserted. Pollen ellipsoidal asymmetric, occasionally elongate; aperture a distal sulcus; ectexine tectate, perforate-rugulate, aperture margin similar or slightly finer; infratectum columellate; longest axis 33-50 æm [1/1]. Pistillate flowers globular, at anthesis much larger than the staminate; sepals 3, distinct, imbricate, rounded; petals 3, ±twice as long as the sepals, distinct, broadly imbricate with conspicuous, triangular, valvate tips; staminodes 3, narrow triangular, flattened; gynoecium ovoid to obovoid, unilocular, uniovulate, stigmas 3, large, fleshy, recurved, ovule laterally attached near the apex of the locule, hemianatropous. Fruit very large, ovoid, ± beaked, green turning red at maturity, perianth whorls persistent, stigmatic remains apical; epicarp smooth, mesocarp with thin flesh and abundant anastomosing fibres adhering to the endocarp, endocarp closely adhering to the seed, thin, ± bony. Seed globose, with lateral, longitudinal hilum, endosperm deeply ruminate, with a central, irregular hollow; embryo basal. Germination adjacent-ligular; eophyll bifid"  (Palmweb)

Habitat/ecology:  "In the wild, it grows in lowland tropical rain forest at altitudes up to about 1000 m above sea level"  (Palmweb)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (Palmweb)

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1998) (voucher ID: PTBG 750677) Taxon name on voucher: Actinorhytis calapparia
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced cultivated	Randall, R. P. (2007) (p. 20)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native invasive cultivated	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Native: Irian Jaya; Introduced, naturalized: Sumatra
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 10)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized

Control:  If you know of control methods for Actinorhytis calapparia, please let us know.