Coccothrinax barbadensis (Lodd. ex Mart.) Becc. Family - Arecaceae . Common Names(s) - Puerto Rico silver palm. Synonym(s) - Coccothrinax alta (O.F. Cook) Becc., Coccothrinax discreta Bailey, Coccothrinax eggersiana Becc., Coccothrinax eggersiana var. sanctae-crucis Becc., Coccothrinax sanctae-thomasae Becc.

Answer

Score

1.01

Is the species highly domesticated?

y=-3, n=0

n

0

1.02

Has the species become naturalized where grown?

y=1, n=-1

1.03

Does the species have weedy races?

y=-1, n=-1

2.01

Species suited to tropical or subtropical climate(s) (0-low; 1-intermediate; 2-high) – If island is primarily wet habitat, then substitute “wet tropical” for “tropical or subtropical”

See Append 2

2

2.02

Quality of climate match data (0-low; 1-intermediate; 2-high) see appendix 2

2

2.03

Broad climate suitability (environmental versatility)

y=1, n=0

n

0

2.04

Native or naturalized in regions with tropical or subtropical climates

y=1, n=0

y

1

2.05

Does the species have a history of repeated introductions outside its natural range?

y=-2, ?=-1, n=0

y

3.01

Naturalized beyond native range y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2), n= question 2.05

y

2

3.02

Garden/amenity/disturbance weed y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2)

n=0

n

0

3.03

Agricultural/forestry/horticultural weed y = 2*multiplier (see Append 2)

n=0

n

0

3.04

Environmental weed y = 2*multiplier (see Append 2)

n=0

n

0

3.05

Congeneric weed y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2)

n=0

n

0

4.01

Produces spines, thorns or burrs

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.02

Allelopathic

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.03

Parasitic

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.04

Unpalatable to grazing animals

y=1, n=-1

n

-1

4.05

Toxic to animals

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.06

Host for recognized pests and pathogens

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.07

Causes allergies or is otherwise toxic to humans

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.08

Creates a fire hazard in natural ecosystems

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.09

Is a shade tolerant plant at some stage of its life cycle

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.10

Tolerates a wide range of soil conditions (or limestone conditions if not a volcanic island)

y=1, n=0

y

1

4.11

Climbing or smothering growth habit

y=1, n=0

n

0

4.12

Forms dense thickets

y=1, n=0

5.01

Aquatic

y=5, n=0

n

0

5.02

Grass

y=1, n=0

n

0

5.03

Nitrogen fixing woody plant

y=1, n=0

n

0

5.04

Geophyte (herbaceous with underground storage organs -- bulbs, corms, or tubers)

y=1, n=0

n

0

6.01

Evidence of substantial reproductive failure in native habitat

y=1, n=0

6.02

Produces viable seed.

y=1, n=-1

y

1

6.03

Hybridizes naturally

y=1, n=-1

6.04

Self-compatible or apomictic

y=1, n=-1

6.05

Requires specialist pollinators

y=-1, n=0

n

0

6.06

Reproduction by vegetative fragmentation

y=1, n=-1

n

-1

6.07

Minimum generative time (years) 1 year = 1, 2 or 3 years = 0, 4+ years = -1

See left

4+

-1

7.01

Propagules likely to be dispersed unintentionally (plants growing in heavily trafficked areas)

y=1, n=-1

n

-1

7.02

Propagules dispersed intentionally by people

y=1, n=-1

y

1

7.03

Propagules likely to disperse as a produce contaminant

y=1, n=-1

n

-1

7.04

Propagules adapted to wind dispersal

y=1, n=-1

n

-1

7.05

Propagules water dispersed

y=1, n=-1

7.06

Propagules bird dispersed

y=1, n=-1

y

1

7.07

Propagules dispersed by other animals (externally)

y=1, n=-1

n

-1

7.08

Propagules survive passage through the gut

y=1, n=-1

y

1

8.01

Prolific seed production (>1000/m2)

y=1, n=-1

y

1

8.02

Evidence that a persistent propagule bank is formed (>1 yr)

y=1, n=-1

8.03

Well controlled by herbicides

y=-1, n=1

8.04

Tolerates, or benefits from, mutilation, cultivation, or fire

y=1, n=-1

8.05

Effective natural enemies present locally (e.g. introduced biocontrol agents)

y=-1, n=1

Total score:

2

Notes

Source

1.01

(1)No history of domestication

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

1.02

1.03

2.01

(1)occurs naturally in the Lesser Antilles, including the islands of Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago, and northeastern Venezuela…It is not hardy to cold outside of zones 10 and 11, although some protected specimens exists in 9b.

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

2.02

(1)Native range well known, and within tropics

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

2.03

(1)occurs naturally in the Lesser Antilles, including the islands of Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago, and northeastern Venezuela, where it grows on calcareous soils in scrubland not far from the coast...It is not hardy to cold outside of zones 10 and 11, although some protected specimens exists in 9b.

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

2.04

(1)occurs naturally in the Lesser Antilles, including the islands of Barbados, Trinidad, and Tobago, and northeastern Venezuela…It is not hardy to cold outside of zones 10 and 11, although some protected specimens exists in 9b.

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

2.05

(1)introduced into South Florida (2)In the early 1900s this palm was misidentified in Hawaii as C. argentea and was said to be fairly often planted as an ornamental around Honolulu. (3)This plant has been said to grow in the following regions: Fallbrook, California Thousand Oaks, California Edgewater, Florida Ellenton, Florida Loxahatchee, Florida

(1)Kirk, T. K. 2009. Tropical Trees of Florida and the Virgin Islands: A Guide to Identification, Characteristics and Uses. Pineapple Press Inc., Sarasota, FL. (2)Staples, G. W. and D. R. Herbst. 2005. A Tropical Garden Flora: Plants Cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and Other Tropical Places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, HI. (3)http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/48964/ [Accessed 27 Apr 2009]

3.01

(1)widely naturalized in Lani Kai…seen spreading in several strategic locations (right against walls, in abandoned weed fields..) throughout the area…over 30 naturalized individuals, probably more.

(1)Danielle Frohlich, Oahu Early Detection (pers. Comm. 24 April 2009)

3.02

(1)No evidence

(1)http://www.hear.org/gcw/scientificnames/scinamec.htm [Accessed 26 Apr 2009]

3.03

(1)No evidence

(1)http://www.hear.org/gcw/scientificnames/scinamec.htm [Accessed 26 Apr 2009]

3.04

(1)No evidence

(1)http://www.hear.org/gcw/scientificnames/scinamec.htm [Accessed 26 Apr 2009]

3.05

(1)No evidence

(1)http://www.hear.org/gcw/scientificnames/scinamec.htm [Accessed 26 Apr 2009]

4.01

(1)Leaf-sheats 2-layered, the fibers fine (less than 0.5 mm thick) and closely woven, burlaplike, not forming spines at the tip. [no evidence]

(1)Henderson, A., G. Galeano, and R. Bernal. 1997. Field guide to the palms of the Americas. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

4.02

(1)No evidence

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

4.03

(1)Solitary palm to 40'

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

4.04

(1)The palms regularly set seed and succeed in reproducing themselves. Seedlings grow easily inside the sacred areas and even outside, but those that grow outside the fence never reach maturity because the occasional passing animal enjoys its green parts as a meal. In this case a small fence would be enough to protect part of the unused land around the "prohibited sacred plots" and to double in a few years the size of the population of Coccothrinax and of other plant species that share its fate.

(1)Morici. C. 1997. Coccothrinax barbadensis in Antigua. Principes 41(2): 84-86.

4.05

(1)The palms regularly set seed and succeed in reproducing themselves. Seedlings grow easily inside the sacred areas and even outside, but those that grow outside the fence never reach maturity because the occasional passing animal enjoys its green parts as a meal. In this case a small fence would be enough to protect part of the unused land around the "prohibited sacred plots" and to double in a few years the size of the population of Coccothrinax and of other plant species that share its fate. [no evidence of toxicity, and plants are edible]

(1)Morici. C. 1997. Coccothrinax barbadensis in Antigua. Principes 41(2): 84-86.

4.06

(1)As it can grow on marginal soils, and appears to be tolerant against pests and diseases, Latanyé may be considered as an ideal plant for soil conservation works to reduce the rate of land degradation in St. Lucia. [no evidence of serious pests or diseases]

(1)http://www.fao.org/forestry/media/11388/1/0/ [Accessed 28 Apr 2009]

4.07

(1)The fruit is edible, and was once (perhaps even now) used to make jam. Leaves have been used for thatching roots. Leaf decoctions have been used to treat respiratory ailments. [no evidence of allergies or toxicity, despite human use]

(1)Kirk, T. K. 2009. Tropical Trees of Florida and the Virgin Islands: A Guide to Identification, Characteristics and Uses. Pineapple Press Inc., Sarasota, FL.

4.08

(1)Solitary palm to 40' [unlikely to increase fire risk]

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

4.09

(1)Full sun to bright filtered sun (2)Light: Silver palms thrive in full sun. Small silver palms make good indoor plants and require bright, though indirect light.

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR. (2)http://www.floridata.com/ref/C/cocc_bar.cfm [Accessed 27 Apr 2009]

4.10

(1)grows on calcareous soils in scrubland not far from the coast (2)Average, well-drained soil; alkaline pH. (3)An easy and relatively fast growing (for a Coccothrinax) plant, which despite coming from calcerous soils, doesn't seem too particular about soil type.

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR. (2)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR. (3)http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Coccothrinax/barbadensis.html [Accessed 27 Apr 2009]

4.11

(1)Solitary palm to 40'

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

4.12

(1)Solitary palm to 40'…Heavily self-seeding, often producing dense clumps of individual palms [no other information found on formation of dense stands, and no information on these palms suppressing other vegetation]

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

5.01

(1)Terrestrial

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

5.02

(1)Arecaceae

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

5.03

(1)Arecaceae

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

5.04

(1)Solitary palm to 40'

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

6.01

(1)As a result of over-exploitation for the manufacture of brooms, Coccothrinax barbadensis has become very uncommon in the wild, restricted to small, inaccessible sites away from major human populations. In fact, more palms appear to exist in cultivation in the village of Tête Morne than in the forest we surveyed near the village (Fig. 1). This is a case where domestication may save this species from complete extirpation. We saw no evidence of seedling regeneration at the survey site, although the palms flower and fruit. The absence of seedlings cannot be explained. Based on the fact that populations of this palm are likely to be reduced by 50% over the next three palm generations due to actual or potential levels of exploitation, the category of Endangered is assigned to Coccothrinax barbadensis in Dominica. Although the category of threat is not known with certainty outside of Dominica, we are aware of reports of dwindling populations of this palm in St. Lucia and Barbados, also as a result of overexploitation. [reproductive failure appears to be due to small population size, and not to natural limiting factors that would be absent outside of native range]

(1)Zona, S., A. James, and K. Maidman. 2003. The Native Palms of Dominica. Palms 47(3): 151-157.

6.02

(1)Seed germination: easy

(1)Riffle, R. L. 2008. Timber Press Pocket Guide to Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

6.03

(1)hybridization is probably common in the genus [no specific reference to C. barbadensis hybridization] (2)Coccothrinax spp. I bought this as a Coccothrinax barbadensis but it clearly isn't that. It was undamaged in the freezes of 2002 and looks more like C. argentata. However, it is much faster growing than C. argentata so I'm guessing it is a hybrid. [anecdotal observation, but no published literature on hybridization of species]

(1)Henderson, A., G. Galeano, and R. Bernal. 1997. Field guide to the palms of the Americas. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. (2)http://207.210.245.133/photo_tour/wasula2004.html [Accessed 28 Apr 2009]

6.04

(1)Flowers bisexual [self-compatibility unknown]...Solitary palm to 40'…Heavily self-seeding, often producing dense clumps of individual palms [self-seeding suggests self-compatibility, but further information lacking]

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

6.05

(1)Thrinax, Coccothrinax, and Zobia, which are generally thought to be wind pollinated, probably have populations which are secondarily anemophilous as a result of ecological conditions, such as exposed coastal environment.

(1)Henderson, A. 1986. A Review of Pollination Studies in the Palmae. Botanical Review 52(3): 221-259.

6.06

(1)Propagation from seed

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

6.07

(1)A slow grower in its native state, silver palm responds very well to regular applications of palm fertilizer. (2)An easy and relatively fast growing (for a Coccothrinax) plant, which despite coming from calcerous soils, doesn't seem too particular about soil type. (3)Mature Age: 20 years

(1)http://www.floridata.com/ref/C/cocc_bar.cfm [Accessed 27 Apr 2009] (2)http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Coccothrinax/barbadensis.html [Accessed 27 Apr 2009] (3)http://www.cadplants.com/info/tropical2.htm [Accessed 27 Apr 2009]

7.01

(1)The fruits are 0.5 inch wide, round, and black when mature [no means of external attachment]

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

7.02

(1)ornamental palm

(1)Llamas, K.. A. 2003. Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

7.03

(1)The fruits are 0.5 inch wide, round, and black when mature [no evidence that fairly large seeds contaminate produce]

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

7.04

(1)The fruits are 0.5 inch wide, round, and black when mature [fleshy-fruited]

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

7.05

(1)The fruits are 0.5 inch wide, round, and black when mature (2)coastal or scrub woodland on limestone soils, from sea level to 300(-600) m elevation. [no information found on seed buoyancy, but coastal distribution suggests possible water dispersal]

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR. (2)Henderson, A., G. Galeano, and R. Bernal. 1997. Field guide to the palms of the Americas. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

7.06

(1)The fruits are 0.5 inch wide, round, and black when mature [fleshy-fruited]

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

7.07

(1)The fruits are 0.5 inch wide, round, and black when mature [no means of external attachment]

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

7.08

(1)The fruits are 0.5 inch wide, round, and black when mature [fleshy-fruited]

(1)Riffle, R. L. and P. Craft. 2003. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

8.01

(1)In winter, silver palm may produce as many as 1300 bunches of round purple-black fruits from 0.25-3 in (0.6-7.6 cm) in diameter. Each bunch may weigh 2 pounds (0.9 kg), which means an adult silver palm may produce 2600 pounds (1179 kg) of fruit! The seeds within the fruits are unusual in that each has six or more narrow, branched grooves. [mature trees can apparently produce substantial quantities of fruit]

(1)http://www.floridata.com/ref/C/cocc_bar.cfm [Accessed 27 Apr 2009]

8.02

Unknown [no information found on seed storage or seed longevity]

8.03

Unknown [no information on control of this species]

8.04

Unknown

8.05

Unknown