Coccothrinax ekmanii Burret (1929: 11)

1.12. Coccothrinax ekmanii Burret (1929: 11) View in CoL .

Haitiella ekmanii (Burret) Bailey (1947a: 7) View in CoL

Lectotype (designated here):— HAITI. Massif de la Selle, Gros Morne des Commissaries , Anses-a-Pitre, 18 September 1926, E. Ekman 6991 ( lectotype S n.v., S image!, isolectotypes EHH n.v., EHH image!, K!, US!, the holotype at B was destroyed). Plate 11 View PLATE 11 .

Stems 6.5(3.0–12.0) m long and 3.9(3.0–5.0) cm diameter, solitary. Leaves more or less deciduous or only leaf bases persisting on stem; leaf sheath fibers 2.0(1.2–3.1) mm diameter, stout, woody, loosely woven, the inner and outer layer combining at the apices to form erect , spine-like fibers; petioles 7.1(5.2–9.2) mm diameter just below the apex; palmans 3.7(1.3–5.8) cm long, relatively short, with the adaxial veins prominent and terminating in a slight raised ridge and distinct pulvinus; leaf blades wedge-shaped; segments 25(21–28) per leaf, the middle ones 33.0(28.0–41.5) cm long and 2.0(1.2–2.8) cm wide; segments not pendulous at the apices, giving the leaf a flat appearance; middle leaf segments tapering from base to apex, often folded, stiff and leathery, with or without scarcely developed shoulders, the apices sharply pointed and briefly splitting; middle leaf segment apices attenuate; leaf segments not waxy or sometimes with a deciduous, thin layer of wax adaxially, without indumentum, scales, or wax abaxially, without or with poorly developed transverse veinlets. Inflorescences curving, arching, or pendulous amongst the leaves, with few partial inflorescences; rachis bracts narrow, closely sheathing, sparsely tomentose, usually without hairs at the apex; partial inflorescences 3(2–4); proximalmost rachillae straight, 4.6(3.1–6.0) cm long and 0.9(0.6–1.3) mm diameter in fruit; rachillae uneven at or near anthesis with lines of warty outgrowths, these often becoming more pronounced as fruits develop; stamens 7–8; fruit pedicels 0.1(0.1–0.3) mm long; fruits 4.9(4.2–5.9) mm long and 5.3(4.4–6.3) mm diameter, brown or rusty brown; fruit surfaces densely muricate; seed surfaces lobed, the lobes running from base of seeds approximately to equator.

Distribution and habitat:— Southeastern Haiti ( Sud-Est) and southwestern Dominican Republic ( Barahona, Pedernales) ( Fig. 11 View FIGURE 11 ) in dry, open areas on dog’s tooth limestone at 76(15–222) m elevation.

Taxonomic notes:— As a preliminary species, Coccothrinax ekmanii has a unique combination of qualitative character states and is recognized as a phylogenetic species. It is a member of a group of nine Hispaniolan species (see notes under C. boschiana ). It differs from all species in this group by its leaf sheaths with erect, spine-like fibers. Tomlinson et al. (2011) considered C. ekmanii to be notable anatomically because of its small vascular bundles attached to the abaxial leaf surface.

Subspecific variation:— Coccothrinax ekmanii appears to show the same kind of variation in stems and leaves as seen in C. boschiana and C. samanensis . The label of a specimen ( Loomis 15) from Beata Island in Haiti, an area completely exposed to prevailing winds, described the stems as being “twisted into grotesque shapes” and one stem reported to be 8.2 m long and only 1.4 cm diameter just below the leaves. The label described the leaves on younger, more sheltered plants as being orbicular but becoming wedge-shaped on older, more exposed plants. On the other hand, stems from more sheltered sites in the Dominican Republic, illustrated in Fernández & Gottschalk (2017, pages 122–123), show thicker, shorter, erect, straight stems covered with persistent leaf bases.