Dypsis lutescens (H. Wendl.) Beentje & J. Dransf., Arecaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 2 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Areca lutescens hort.; Chrysalidocarpus lutescens H. Wendl.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: areca palm, butterfly palm, cane palm, golden cane palm, golden-yellow palm, yellow butterfly palm, yellow palm

Spanish: palma enana

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Graceful clustering palm in tufts of 4-20 plants. Stems 1-7 m high, occasionally with 1-2 small branches, 5-12 cm in diameter, the base occasionally with a swelling to 30 cm high, 40 cm in diameter; internodes 2-12 cm, yellowish or pale grey-brown, more distally green to grey with waxy white bloom. Leaves 5-11, spiral or more often tristichous, porrect and strongly arching; sheath yellowish with white waxy bloom, (28-) 39-60 cm, 11-15 cm in diameter, abaxially with dense scattered scales distally, adaxially orange and glabrous, with slight ligules (to 3 mm) or with rounded shoulders; petiole 19-37 cm long, proximally 1.7-3.5 x 2.5 cm, distally 0.7-2 x 0.8-2 cm, channeled with sharp edges, yellow or yellowish orange, with few abaxial scales, proximally on the adaxial side with a triangular swollen extension to the sheath lining; rachis 1.1-1.9 m long, proximally channeled, in mid-leaf keeled and 1.5-1.8 x 0.9 cm in diameter, yellow or yellow-orange, with small scattered scales; leaflets 44-59 on each side of the rachis, regular, stiff, in one plane on each side of the rachis but the leaflets on opposite sides at an angle of 90-120°, adaxially green, abaxially slightly waxy and grey, the proximal 35-66 x 0.6-1.8 cm, median 44-70 x 1.3-3 cm (interval 1.7-4 cm), distal 7-37 x 0.6-1.5 cm (terminal pair joined for up to 3.5 cm), the apices attenuate, with 5-9 faint veins but with only the midrib very prominent on both surfaces, with a few tufts of large ramenta on the abaxial midrib, and with many small scattered glands in long lines on the minor veins (these sometimes absent?). Inflorescence interfoliar, sometimes the fruiting stage infrafoliar, spreading, with spreading rachillae, branched to 3 orders (rarely to 2 or 4 orders); peduncle 34-88 cm long, flattened, proximally 2.7-6 x 1-3 cm, distally c. 1.3-2.7 x cm in diameter, glabrous; prophyll 31-102 cm, borne at 5-47 cm above the base of the peduncle, 3.3-4.2 cm wide, with narrow wings, split only at the apex for 7-16 cm, with scattered scales; peduncular bract inserted at 38-68 cm from the base of the peduncle, 48-60 cm long, cm wide, closed for the distal 10 cm, with a beak of 2-5 cm, pale brown, waxy and glabrous or with a few scattered scales, abscising and carried up by the lengthening inflorescence and rather quickly deciduous; non-tubular peduncular bracts few, 3-5 x 10-12 mm; rachis 20- 110 cm, glabrous, with 5-13 branched and 8-14 unbranched first order branches, the proximal of these with flattened bases 1-1.5 x 0.6- cm and sub-tended by bracts of 6-7 mm high; rachillae 6-30 cm long, 2-5 mm in diameter; triads distant proximally, more dense distally, inserted in shallow pits; rachilla bracts proud, acute. Staminate flowers with sepals 1.6-1.8 x 2-2.4 mm, hooded, rounded, gibbous, keeled; petals connate for 1-1.3 mm to the receptacle, free for 1.3-2.2 x 2-2.3 mm, ovate, acute; stamens 6, uniseriate, the filaments 2.8- mm long, anthers 1.6-1.8 x 0.8 mm, dorsifixed; pistillode 2.5-2.8 x 0.4-0.5 mm. Pistillate flowers with sepals 2-2.2 x 2.4-2.5 mm, hooded, neither gibbous nor keeled; petals free, 2.8-3.2 x 2.3-3 mm, orbicular or broadly ovate, with small apicula; staminodes 0.3-0.4 mm, thin, empty; ovary c. 3 x 1.4 mm, with short stigmas. Fruit yellow, ellipsoid to obovoid, 12-18 x 7-10 mm, with a pointed apex; endocarp long-fibrous, the fibres almost free. Seed ovoid with an obtuse apex and a pointed base, 11-16 x 6-9.5 mm, with homogeneous endosperm. Germination adjacent-ligular; eophyll bifid"  Dransfield & Beentje, 1995, in Palmweb).

"Sex: Dioecious.  Trunk: Up to 25-30 ft. high, 4-6 in. diameter; several to many; surmounted by crownshaft.  Petiole: 2 ft. long; deep furrowed; expanded at base; yellow.  Leaf: Pinnate, 6-8 ft. long, 3 ft. wide; arching; 40-60 pairs of leaflets.  Leaflets: 1/2 in. broad, but firm, with ends not drooping.  Flowerstalk: Among leaves; much branched.  Fruit: 3/4 in. long; obloid; violet-black. It grows in dense clusters, throwing off many extra trunks as suckers.  The leaves are arched and the leaflets, firm, the feathery foliage usually running to the ground and obscuring the trunk" (McCurrach, 1960; p 46).

Habitat/ecology:  "Littoral forest or heath vegetation on white sand, also on rock; persists in secondary growth and may be locally common. Altitude 5-35 m"  Dransfield & Beentje, 1995, in Palmweb).  Commonly sold as an ornamental plant (McCurrach, 1960; p 46). "Prefers plenty of moisture and full to filtered sun" (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 622).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Madagascar (GRIN)

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced cultivated	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 36) Voucher cited: F.R. Fosberg 60525 (BISH)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Fatu Hiva Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2013)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2013)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Ua Huka (Huahuna, Uahuka) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2013)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Ua Pou (Huapu, Uapou, Uapu) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2013)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. (2000) (p. 16)
Japan (offshore islands) Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	introduced	Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
Palau Palau (Belau ) (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)		Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim (2010)
Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna (Horne) Islands	Wallis (‘Uvea) Island	introduced cultivated	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2007) (p. 29)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 37) Cultivated only

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Meyer, Jean-Yves/Lavergne, Christophe/Hodel, Donald R. (2008) (p. 76) Locally naturalized.
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced cultivated	Meyer, Jean-Yves/Lavergne, Christophe/Hodel, Donald R. (2008) (p. 76)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Dypsis lutescens, please let us know.