Volume 11 > Part 3 > Year 2013 > Page 330 > Arecaceae > Areca

1. Areca laosensis Becc.wfo-0000262620

Webbia 3: 191. 1910; Hodel & Vatch., The Palms of Thailand: 8. 1998; Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 32: 34. 2004.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Solitary or clustering palm tree up to 4 m tall. Stem ca 1.5–2.5 cm diam. Leaf: petioleshort, ca 10 cm long or less; rachis short probably not more than 1 m long, with few irregularly spaced pinnae. Inflorescence branched to second order with more than 15, spirally arranged, yellowish-green, first order branches. Male flowers mostly inserted in pairs, with 6 stamens. Fruit rather large to 3.5 cm long.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Lampang; CENTRAL: Nakhon Nayok; SOUTH-EASTERN: Chanthaburi, Trat.

Distribution : Laos (type), Vietnam.

Ecology : Not recorded.

Vernacular : Mak lo ka thoen (หมากลอกะเทิ่น)(Trat).

Uses: Not recorded.

Conservation Status: Status unknown, but probably not threatened.

Notes: Little known species, which may intergrade morphologically into Areca triandra. Apart from the Thai specimens it is known only from two old historical specimens from southern Laos and Vietnam in 1877 and 1923 respectively. Hodel (1998) mentions that this species has been sighted in East Thailand. Henderson (2009) suggests it may be a hybrid between A. catechu and A. triandra combining the 6 stamens of the former with the paired male flowers of the latter (A. catechu having solitary male flowers throughout).