LIVISTONA

Livistona R. Br., Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holland 267. 1810; Becc. & Hook. f. in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 6: 434. 1894; Bailey, St. Cyc. Hort. 2: 1894. 1950; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1. 527. 1918 (Reprint 1973); Maheshwari, Fl. Delhi 342. 1963; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 23: 147; Blume & Burret, Fl. North Amer. @ eFloras.org 22: 102; Malik, Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 15.

Solitary, of moderate height. Stems solitary, erect, stout, at first covered by persistent leaf bases, later becoming bare, unarmed, ringed conspicuously or obscurely with leaf scars. Leaves 10-60, palmate or costa-palmate, usually forming a dense crown, dead leaves often persisting as a skirt below crown, leaf sheaths open and often very fibrous, forming a mass of reddish brown, interwoven fibres; petioles long, plano- or concave-convex, hard, spiny on margins, younger plants with more spines than older ones; hastula present; leaf blades circular, fan-shaped, folded, coriaceous, divided to about half their length or almost to base into many segments, these again split and sometimes pendulous at apices, segments 1-ribbed, plication induplicate. Inflorescences axillary within the crown of leaves, paniculate with 3-5 orders of branching, about +/- as long as leaves; prophyll membranous, peduncular bracts many, bracts tubular, sheathing the branches and peduncle. Flowers bisexual, solitary or clustered. Calyx cupulate, 3-lobed. Corolla 3-lobed, lobes valvate. Stamens 6; filaments connate at base into a cup. Carpels 3, free but fused by their styles, styles short, stigma minute. Fruit drupe, small, rounded, oblong or ellipsoid; exocarp blackish, smooth, mesocarp fleshy, endocarp bony. Seeds globose or ellipsoid, endosperm homogeneous.

28 species

Livistona chinensis

Livistona chinensis (Jacq.) R. Br. ex Mart. in Martius et al., Hist. Nat. Palm. ed. 1, 3: 240, plate 146. 1838; Bailey, Stand. Cyc. Hort. 2: 1894. 1950; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1. 527. 1918 (Reprint 1973); Maheshwari, Fl. Delhi 342. 1963; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 23: 148; Blume & Burret, Fl. North Amer. @ eFloras.org 22: 102; Malik, Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 16; L. mauritiana Wall. ex Mart., Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 240. 1838.

Trunk solitary, short and stout, 10-15 m tall, 20-30 cm in diameter, profusely ringed; lower portion smooth, upper surrounded by remains of petioles and reticulate fibrous network. Leaves palmate, usually forming a dense crown, dead leaves often persisting as a skirt below crown; petioles long, up to 1.8 m long, hard, plano-convex, with green or black recurved spines along margins, spines denser proximally, fewer distally or even absent; hastula (a flat often triangular expansion at the upper end of the petiole of a palm leaf where it joins the leaf blade) up to 3 cm adaxially; blade flabellate, almost orbicular in outline, 1-1.8 m wide, green on both surfaces, plicate, plication induplicate, central part large ovate, divided into 60-90 segments about the middle, segments linear-lanceolate, acuminate, smooth, upper part lax, pendulous; apex deeply forked for about 30 cm. Inflorescences axillary within the crown of leaves, paniculate with usually 3 orders of branching, 1-1.2 m long, rachillae 10-18 cm long; prophyll membranous, peduncular bracts many, bracts tubular, sheathing the peduncle and branches. Flowers small, bisexual, sessile in groups of 2-4, white or yellow, 2-2.5 mm. Fruit drupes, heavily packed on the fruiting spikes, green or blue- green, globose to ellipsoid, 1.5-2 cm x 1-1.3 cm; exocarp smooth, mesocarp fleshy, endocarp bony. Seed 1, globose or ellipsoid, endosperm homogeneous.

Flowering and Fruiting: February to August
Common Names: Chinese Fan Palm, Fountain Palm