Leucothrinax

Leucothrinax morrisii is known as the "Key thatch palm" or the "brittle thatch palm" in the United States.{{cite web| last = Francis| first = John K.| title = Thrinax morrisii H. Wendl.| url = http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pdf/shrubs/Thrinax%20morrisii.pdf| publisher = USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry| accessdate = 2009-03-27}} In Anguilla it is called the "broom palm" or "buffalo-top", in The Bahamas, miraguano in Cuba and palma de escoba in Puerto Rico. Other common names include "small-fruited thatch palm", yaray, pandereta, palma de petate, palma de cogollo, guano de sierra, and palmita.

Leucothrinax morrisii is a palmate-leaved palm with solitary brown or grey stems {{convert|1|-|11|m|ft|0}} tall and {{convert|5|-|35|cm|in|0}} in diameter.{{cite book |last1=Henderson |first1=Andrew |author-link1= Andrew Henderson (botanist) |last2=Galeano |first2=Gloria |author-link2=Gloria Galeano |last3=Bernal |first3=Rodrigo |author-link3=Rodrigo Bernal |title=Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas |year=1995 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey | isbn=978-0-691-08537-1 }} Leaves are pale blue-green or yellow-green, whitish on the undersides. Petioles are {{convert|27|-|84|cm|ft|1|abbr=on}} long with split petioles. The leaflets are {{convert|33|-|75|cm|ft|1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|2.3|-|4.8|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} wide. The inflorescences extend beyond the leaves and are {{convert|55|-|100|cm|ft|1|abbr=on}} long. The fruit are white, and turn yellow as they mature.

Leucothrinax morrisii is native to the Florida mainland and Keys, the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico, Navassa Island,{{cite journal | last = Zanoni | first = Thomas A. |author2=William R. Buck | year = 1999 | title = Navassa Island and Its Flora. 2. Checklist of the Vascular Plants | journal = Brittonia | volume = 51 | issue = 4 | pages = 389–394 | jstor = 2666520| doi = 10.2307/2666520 | bibcode = 1999Britt..51..389Z | s2cid = 20049038 }} Saint Barthélemy, both the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

It is found in dry, deciduous forests and scrub and coastal areas. In the Florida Keys it grows at the edge of hardwood hammocks and in pinelands, while in Puerto Rico, it is found on cliffs and on limestone and ultramafic ridges. It can tolerate drought, and frequent salt spray.

{{cladogram|align=left

|caption=Simplified phylogeny of the Cryosophileae based on four nuclear genes and the matK plastid gene.{{Cite journal|last1=Cano|first1=Ángela|last2=Bacon|first2=Christine D.|last3=Stauffer|first3=Fred W.|last4=Antonelli|first4=Alexandre|last5=Serrano-Serrano|first5=Martha L.|last6=Perret|first6=Mathieu|date=2018|title=The roles of dispersal and mass extinction in shaping palm diversity across the Caribbean|journal=Journal of Biogeography|language=en|volume=45|issue=6|pages=1432–1443|doi=10.1111/jbi.13225|bibcode=2018JBiog..45.1432C |issn=1365-2699}}

|cladogram={{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%

|label1=Cryosophileae

|1={{clade

|1=Trithrinax

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1= Itaya

|2 = Sabinaria

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|2={{clade

|1= Chelyocarpus

|2={{clade

|1= Cryosophila

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1= Schippia

|2={{clade

|1= Thrinax

|2={{clade

|1= Leucothrinax

|2= Hemithrinax

}}

}}

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|2={{clade

|1= Zombia

|2= Coccothrinax

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Leucothrinax is a monotypic genus—it includes only one species, L. morrisii. The species was originally described by German botanist Hermann Wendland, who placed it in the genus Thrinax.

In the first edition of Genera Palmarum (1987), Natalie Uhl and John Dransfield placed the genus Thrinax in the subfamily Coryphoideae, the tribe Corypheae and the subtribe Thrinacinae{{cite book

|last= Uhl|first= Natalie E.|author2=John Dransfield |title=Genera Palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore Jr|year=1987|publisher=The L. H. Bailey Hortorium and the International Palm Society|location=Lawrence, Kansas}} using Harold E. Moore's 1973 classification of the palm family.{{cite journal| last =Moore | first = H.E. | year = 1973 | title = The Major Groups of Palms and Their Distribution | journal = Gentes Herbarum | volume = 11 | pages = 27–140}} Subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that the Old World and New World members of the Thrinacinae were not closely related. As a consequence of this, Thrinax and related genera were placed in their own tribe, Cryosophileae.{{cite journal| last = Dransfield| first = John|author2=Natalie W. Uhl |author3=Conny B. Asmussen |author4=William J. Baker |author5=Madeline M. Harley |author6=Carl E. Lewis | year = 2005| title = A New Phylogenetic Classification of the Palm Family, Arecaceae| journal = Kew Bulletin| volume = 60| issue = 4| pages = 559–69| jstor = 25070242}} A study of the phylogenetic relationships among Caribbean palms showed that the species then known as Thrinax morrisii was most closely related to Coccothrinax, Hemithrinax and Zombia, with the remainder of the genus Thinax being a sister group to this clade.{{cite journal| last = Roncal| first = Julissa|author2=Scott Zona |author3=Carl E. Lewis | year = 2008| title = Molecular Phylogenetic Studies of Caribbean Palms (Arecaceae) and Their Relationships to Biogeography and Conservation| journal = Botanical Review| volume = 74| issue = 1| pages = 78–102| doi = 10.1007/s12229-008-9005-9| bibcode = 2008BotRv..74...78R| s2cid = 40119059}} Since the continued inclusion of this genus would render Thrinax paraphyletic, it was split off into a new genus, Leucothrinax.{{cite journal| last = Lewis| first = Carl E.|author2=Scott Zona | year = 2008| title = Leucothrinax morrisii, a new name for a familiar Caribbean palm| journal = Palms| volume = 52| issue = 2| pages = 84–88}}{{cite news | title = Florida palm a new genus, US scientists discover | url = https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/aug/20/plants.usa | work = The Guardian | accessdate = 2009-03-27 | location=London | date=2008-08-20 | first=McClatchy | last=Newspapers}}

Stems of the plant are used for poles and the leaves are used for thatch and weaving.

{{Reflist}}

{{Arecaceae genera}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q13426968|from2=Q149586}}

Category:Coryphoideae

Category:Monotypic Arecaceae genera

Category:Trees of Northern America

Category:Trees of the Caribbean

Category:Flora of the Dominican Republic