''Butia pubispatha'' is a very small and extremely rare species of ''

Butia ''Butia'' is a genus of palms in the family Arecaceae, native to the South American countries of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Many species produce edible fruits, which are sometimes used to make alcoholic beverages and other foods. ...

'' palm with an underground trunk; endemic to the east of the state of Paraná in southeastern Brazil.

Etymology

The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

refers to the

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a ...

(downy) hairs on the outer surface of the

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

. At least one seed vendor has used the name broom jelly palm for this species.

Taxonomy

''Butia pubispatha'' was discovered, and the type specimen and live plants collected, by

Harri Lorenzi Harri Lorenzi (born 1949) is a Brazilian agronomic engineer, author on trees of the Atlantic Mata and a collaborating agronomist of the garden of Fazenda Cresciumal, Ruy De Souza Queiroz. Between his workmanships, he published four books in the e ...

and Kelen Pureza Soares in 2008. In 2009 Lorenzi was growing and studying the plants in his Plantarum Institute Campos Rocha A, Lorenzi H (2018). HPL - Herbário do Jardim Botânico Plantarum. Version 1.43. Jardim Botânico Plantarum. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ymks0x accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-10-19. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1099311443 and Larry R. Noblick and Lorenzi described '' B. catarinensis'', ''B. matogrossensis'' and ''B. pubispatha'' in 2010 in the ''Flora brasileira: Arecaceae (palmeiras)'' by Lorenzi ''et al.'' (Noblick also described ''B. lepidotispatha'' in 2010).

Description

This is a palm with a solitary,

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

trunk 5-20cm in diameter. The trunk is usually subterranean, but it may occasionally breach the ground with age. It has 4-13 leaves; these have a 5-18cm long unarmed petiole which has margins fringed with fibres. The rachis of the leaf is 25-65cm long and has 16-28 pairs of pinnae (leaflets) arranged regularly down its length and inserted in a single plane per side of the leaf, a pair of pinnae thus forming a neat 'V'-shape. The pinnae in the middle of the leaf blade are 20-32cm long and 0.4-1cm wide. In the wild the leaves are recorded as coloured greyish-green, the petioles yellowish.Campos Rocha A, Lorenzi H (2018). HPL - Herbário do Jardim Botânico Plantarum. Version 1.43. Jardim Botânico Plantarum. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ymks0x accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-10-19. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1099311497 In cultivation the leaves are bluish-green, and young leaves are very finely coated in a white wax. The inflorescence is branched to a single degree. The developing inflorescence is protected within a 20-33cm long

with an enlarged portion which is 10-18cm long and 1.4-3cm wide. The spathe is coloured green, has a woody consistency and the outer surface is covered in short, rusty-coloured,

(downy) hairs that fall off easily and as the spathe matures. The inflorescence is finely coated in pale-coloured wax. The rachis of the inflorescence is only 1-4cm long, with 1-5 rachillae (branches) which are 6-15cm long. The flowers are coloured purple or purplish-yellow. The staminate (male) flowers are 9mm long; the pistillate (female), 7-8 by 7-8mm. The ripe fruit are coloured greenish-purple, ovoid-shaped, 2-2.5cm long and 1.8-2.9cm wide. The flesh is yellow and sweet-sour. The nut within is hard, 1.5-1.8cm long and 1-1.2cm wide, and usually contains a single seed. The shape of the nut has been said to be ovoid or elliptic-shaped, or globose (round). The plants look like a clump of grass.

Similar species

Soares considers it most similar to ''

Butia microspadix ''Butia microspadix'' is a very small species of grass-like ''Butia'' palm usually with an underground trunk; native to the states of Paraná and São Paulo in Brazil. It has been given the common name dwarf woolly jelly palm in English. It i ...

'', differing from that species by the spathes being covered in short pubescent hairs that fall off, whereas those of ''B. microspadix'' have long and persistent hairs upon their stem. It also grows much faster and is more robust than ''B. microspadix''. In a

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

to the genus provided in 2014, Noblick contrasts it to ''B. marmorii'', but the spathe in that species is papery, smooth or scaly, and the inflorescence has a much shorter peduncle and rachillae. It grows in the same region as ''B. eriospatha'' and ''B. microspadix''.

Distribution & habitat

This plant is extremely rare. As of 2017 it has not been found anywhere except the type locality in the east of the state of Paraná in southeastern Brazil. It was discovered and collected in 2008 along a highway in the municipality of

Jaguariaíva Jaguariaíva is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Paraná (state), Paraná in the Southern Region, Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. The municipality of Jaguariaíva is located at 24°15'04'' S and 49°42' ...

. It grows in sunny high altitude grassland, near a river, in sandy soils.

Cultivation

Seeds have been offered for sale. It has been grown by at least two collectors as of 2014.

Conservation

As of 2018 the Centro Nacional de Conservação da Flora has not yet rated the conservation status for Brazil, and it is listed as 'not evaluated'. It was grown ''ex situ'' in the Jardim Botânico Plantarum in

Nova Odessa Nova Odessa (lit., New Odessa) is a Brazilian municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. The population is 60,956 (2020 est.) in an area of 73.79 km². Nova Odessa was founded on May 24, 1905, ...

, São Paulo, Brazil, by 2009. As of 2017 the locality is protected within a conservation area, the geological park Área de Preservação Ambiental da Escarpa Devoniana, but much of the nearby area has been converted to soya cultivation. This species is extremely rare, the least known of the Brazilian ''

'' species, known only from a single locality and rarely grown in cultivation. It is so rare or little studied that in a 2017 study attempting to calculate population abundance it was deemed 'data deficient' (along with ''B. witeckii'', which has been collected in two localities).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16539455 pubispatha Flora of Paraná (state) Plants described in 2010