Solfia

Solfia is a rare, monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family endemic to Samoa, where the only known species is Solfia samoensis.[2]

Solfia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Arecoideae
Tribe: Areceae
Subtribe: Ptychospermatinae
Genus: Solfia
Rech.
Species:
S. samoensis
Binomial name
Solfia samoensis
Synonyms[2]

Drymophloeus samoensis (Rech.) Becc. ex Martelli

Description

The trunk is solitary and ringed, colored brown, no more than 8 cm wide. The sheath of the pinnate leaf is extended, wrapping around the trunk to form a tall, slender crownshaft. The petiole is short, the thin rachis bears regularly spaced, reduplicate leaflets with a prominent midrib and jagged ends. The inflorescence emerges below the crownshaft, initially enclosed by a prophyll, with a single peduncular bract. Monoecious, there are staminate and pistillate flowers present in each plant, borne on the rachillae as triads of two males surrounding one female. Fleshy and red when ripe, the fruit becomes wrinkled when dry, carrying one seed with homogeneous endosperm.[3]

Distribution and habitat

Solfia samoensis is one of two palms confined to Samoa, growing in wet, mountainous, montane rain and cloud forests, exceeding 500 m.

References
  1. Whistler, A. & Johnson, D. (1998). "Drymophloeus samoensis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 1998: e.T38514A10126399. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T38514A10126399.en. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John (1987) Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press. ISBN 0-935868-30-5 / ISBN 978-0-935868-30-2
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