''Saribus rotundifolius'', also known as the footstool palm, is a common

fan palm Fan palm as a descriptive term can refer to any of several different kinds of Arecaceae, palms (Arecaceae) in various Genus, genera with leaves that are palmately lobed (rather than pinnately compound). Most are members of the subfamily Coryphoide ...

found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. It is a member of the genus '' Saribus''.

Common names

It is called ''anáhaw'' or ''luyong'' in Filipino. In Malay the palm is known as ''serdang daun bulat''.

Taxonomy

''Saribus rotundifolius'' was first described as ''Corypha rotundifolia'' by the French

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...

in 1786. It was moved to the '' Saribus'' genus by the German-Dutch botanist

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796 – 3 February 1862) was a German-Dutch botanist and entomologist who spent most of his professional life in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. As deputy director of agricul ...

in a publication issued in 1838 or 1839. This move was generally not accepted by others in the field. In 2011, after

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

research, the reclassification from the ''

Livistona ''Livistona'' is a genus of palms, the botanical family Arecaceae, native to southeastern and eastern Asia, Australasia, and the Horn of Africa. They are fan palms, the leaves with an armed petiole terminating in a rounded, costapalmate fan ...

'' genus to the resurrected genus ''Saribus'' was official. The

generic epithet Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial spec ...

''Saribus'' comes from a local name in one of the Maluku languages, as recorded by the Dutch, ''sariboe''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

means 'round-leaved' in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Description

''Saribus rotundifolius'' is a

hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

. The palm is

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

, erect, and only grows having a single trunk ('solitary'). It grows at a height ranging from 15 to 25 metres, exceptionally up to 45 metres tall, and thickness of 15 to 25 cm

diameter at breast height Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...

. Its trunk is smooth and straight with a shallow rings of leaf scars. The trunk is rather massive and tapering. It usually grows to tall, but may rarely reach tall. The young trees have a green crown. This species is seldom seen with a slight skirt of drooping, dead leaves. The sheaths are chestnut brown in colour. The

palmate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets ...

ly-lobed leaves are spirally arranged around the trunk. The petioles are long. The entire leaf is some 1.2 metres in length. The leaf blade is

entire Entire may refer to: * Entire function, a function that is holomorphic on the whole complex plane * Entire (animal), an indication that an animal is not neutered * Entire (botany) This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions o ...

in its centre, and almost round in outline. It is regularly divided to about half of the length and 1.2 metres in diameter. The leaf segments are forked, but not deeply, at their ends. The leaf segments have one main nerve. The flowers are borne on an

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

with a long peduncle, about 0.9 to 1.2 metres long. The three-petalled flowers appear in bunches. The fruit is a fleshy

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

. It is about 2cm in diameter, quite round, and coloured brick red as it ripens, ultimately becoming black when ripe.

Distribution

The palm is native to

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

and the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The native distribution stretches from

Banggi Island Banggi Island () is located in the Kudat Division of Sabah in Malaysia. With an area of 440.7 square kilometres, it is the largest island fully in Malaysia followed by Bruit Island, Langkawi Island and Penang Island. It is located off the no ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, off the north-east coastal tip of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

in the west, to the

Raja Ampat Islands Raja Ampat (), or the Four Kings, is an archipelago located off of the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula (on the island of New Guinea), Southwest Papua , Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and sh ...

near Maluku off the north-west tip of

Bird's Head Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: , , meaning Bird's Head in Indonesian and Dutch) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai'') is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indones ...

West Papua province West Papua (), formerly Irian Jaya Barat (West Irian), is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province located in Indonesia Western New Guinea, Papua. It covers most of the two western peninsulas of the island of New Guinea: the eastern half ...

in the east. Its northernmost native distribution is in the Philippines. It is abundant throughout the Philippines. It has been introduced into the wild in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, the

Lesser Sunda The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pr ...

islands,

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. It has also been introduced to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. On Java it occurs in the west and the central-eastern parts of the island. It is usually found as a cultivated plant, but already in the 1960s in some places it has escaped into the wild, becoming locally very numerous.

Ecology

The

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

n caterpillars of the species ''

Suastus gremius ''Suastus gremius'', the Indian palm bob or palm bob, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the Indomalayan realm.Corbet, A. S. & Pendlebury, H. M., 1956. ''The Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula'' Edn. 2. Edinburgh ...

'' and '' Elymnias hypermnestra'' have been recorded using ''Saribus rotundifolius'' as a

host plant In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include a ...

. The tree only flowers after it becomes very old. Its flowers are pollinated by bees.

Uses

''Saribus rotundifolius'' can be grown in humid, tropical areas. It is a common

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

plant in the Philippines, and has been widely cultivated in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, Java and elsewhere, for a long time. The fruit are quite attractive. It is cultivated as an

ornamental Ornamental may refer to: *Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration *Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work *Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...

throughout

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. The leaves are used for the

thatching Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

of roofs and wrapping food.

Overharvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

of the leaves of plants causes a reduction in leaf size. The leaves do grow faster after harvest but tend to be smaller. The foliage of the ''Saribus rotundifolius'' is the unofficial national leaf of the

Gallery

Sulawesi_trsr_ph11.jpg, ''Saribus rotundifolius'' palm in the forest

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

in Tangkoko Nature Reserve,

Sulawesi trsr ph09.jpg, ''Saribus rotundifolius'' ''in situ'' in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi Saribus rotundifolius Livistona rotundifolia in the pot.jpg, ''Saribus rotundifolius'' in a pot Saribus rotundifolius Livistona rotundifolia spines on the petiole.jpg, Spines on margins of the

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

of a young plant of ''Saribus rotundifolius'' Saribus rotundifolius fruit (35044307905).jpg, ''Saribus rotundifolius'' developing fruit Livistona rotundifolia 3zz.jpg, Base of the trunk in

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an botanic garden with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including Arecaceae, palms, cycads, flowering trees, and vines. It is located in the city of Coral Gables, Florida, Coral Gables, Miami-D ...

, Miami Livistona rotundifolia (4630490513).jpg, Trunk showing leaf scars in

Livistona rotundifolia 7zz.jpg, However, the trunk is covered in persistent leaf bases for a long time Saribus rotundifolius palm "burlap" (35003881756).jpg, The disintegrating frond bases on the trunk of the palm

Conservation

This plant species is common and has been classed as '

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17255322 Livistoninae Flora of Malesia Flora of New Guinea