Brahea sarukhanii (Brahea sarukhanii)

Description

Hight: To 15 Ft. Spread: To 9 Ft. Leaf detail: Palmately compound, finely fingered, light green, with erect leaves. Palm to 5 m tall. Trunk solitary 10-15 cm in diam. with persistent sheaths and petiole bases through almost all its length. Crown with about 12-18 leaves per crown. Leaf to 1.60 m long; petioles glabrous, 45-90 cm long, 15-22 mm wide at the base, 10-12 mm wide at the apex, armed with small teeth about 1.2 mm long at least toward the base, usually flat above convex below, abaxially projected in a small costa 5-9 cm long, hastula triangular with short membranaceous point; blade scarcely costapalmate, circular in general outline, 80-115 cm in diam., with 52-67 segments and a palman of 30-50% of the radius of the blade, at least in the middle; central segments 60-80 cm long, 1.8-4.0 cm wide, the free portion deeply bifurcate, each portion with entire apex, and prominent, numerous closely spaced secondary nerves with connecting cross veinlets visible underneath. Inflorescence arching, equal to or slightly exceeding the leaves, 120-150 cm long; prophyll bicarinate with triangular apex, opening apically, about 20 cm long, 35-40 mm wide; peduncular bracts 2; rcchis bracts with triangular apices; peduncle less than 1/3 the length of the inflorescence; primary branches 7 (-9), rachillae 8.0-14 cm long, 3.0-3.5 mm in diam., densely woolly-tomentose. Flowers solitary, creamy-white, 3.5 mm long; floral bracts and the base of calyx sunken in the tomentum; calyx 1.2-1.5 mm high, sepals canescent in the upper inner surface, free and imbricate; corolla at least twice the length of the calyx, petals triangular ascendent, imbricate and connate at base, valvate above, 2.5-3.0 mm long, strongly costate when dry, canescent at the outer base; stamens shorter than the petals, anthers 1.5 mm long; pistil about 2.0 mm long with connate styles, ovary pyramidal, lightly stipitate with free carpels, canescent at the base, shorter than the style, stigma punctiform. Fruit ellipsoid to nearly oblong, sometimes slightly falcoid, 18-20 x 12-16 mm with blunt subapical ventral stigmatic remnant and a median ventral groove, creamy and canescent when young, black and glabrous at maturity; epicarp smooth, mesocarp fleshy and fibrous to 2.5 mm thick, endocarp cartaceous. Seed oblong, smooth, 14-16 x 12-13 mm, endosperm homogeneous intruded by a horny ventral postament; embryo subbasal. (H.J. Quero. 2000)/Palmweb. Editing by edric.