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Green-seeds.com:
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Chrysalidocarpus decipiens
Excerpt
reprinted with permission from the July 1994 issue of Principes
Vol 38, No 3,
Journal of the International Palm Society
©
1994 The International Palm Society, all rights reserved
HENK BEENTJE AND JOHN DRANSFIELD
Herbarium,
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey, 7-W9 3AE, UK
As Readers of the bulletin of the Southern California Chapter of the
International Palm Society, the Palm Journal, will be well aware of the
horticultural interest in Chrysalidocarpus decipiens Beccari. C. decipiens
is one of the grandest palms there is. Native to the central plateau of
Madagascar, it is now rare in the wild and, perhaps surprisingly, it has
only relatively recently become widespread in cultivation outside Madagascar.
In fact we know of no mature adult palms in cultivation outside its native
country.
Early
Confusion
 The name Chrysalidocarpus
decipiens was established by Beccari in 1906, based on specimens collected
by the English missionary, the Reverend Baron (after whom Neodypsis
baronii is named), from "Central Madagascar" (probably Andrangolaoka,
east of Antananarivo) and by the German plant collector, Hildebrandt (after
whom Dypsis hildebrandtii is named), from Ankafina forest near
Fianarantsoa, in the southern plateau area. At this time (1906) the fruit
was still unknown. Eight years later, in 1914, more specimens had been collected,
notably by the French collector Perrier de la B’thie, and Beccari could
amplify his description of C. decipiens when he wrote his monumental
work "Palme del Madagascar." Unfortunately he mixed two palms
in his description -- true C. decipiens, including some fruiting
material, and Neodypsis basilongus of Jumelle and Perrier, a more
coastal species with ruminate endosperm that was held to be typical for
Neodypsis.
Since the resulting
"species" combined characters from two genera, Beccari felt it
necessary to establish a new genus Macrophloga. The resulting species,
Macrophloga decipiens (Beccari) Beccari existed for eight years,
until Jumelle sorted out the confusion and put all the constituent parts
back in their proper species.
However, this is not
the end of the story. During our research on the palms of Madagascar over
the past eight years, it has become increasingly apparent that the major
differences between groups of species that allow us to define and maintain
genera as distinct from each other just do not exist in the group of palms,
the Dypsidinae, to which Chrysalidocarpus belongs. A wealth of
new species and complete material of many of the previously described species
have provided the evidence that has forced us to regard all members of the
Dypsidinae as belonging to a single large and very varied genus Dypsis.
The extremes of this genus are very distinct but they are connected to each
other by series of intermediates that have completely blurred any previously
conceived boundaries. The dreaded name changes that will ensue have not
yet been formalized so we can continue in the mean time to use the name
Chrysalidocarpus decipiens. Our complete findings will be published
as a book on the palms of Madagascar, we hope in 1995.
C. Decipiens in Cultivation
Within Madagascar, this
wonderful squat "bottle" palm, Chrysalidocarpus decipiens, is
grown in gardens on the plateau, but only rather rarely. There are fine
examples in the Parc de Tzimbazaza in the center of the capital, Antananarivo,
as illustrated in Nancy Edmonson's article in the May 1993 issue of the
Palm Journal, and a few young individuals in gardens on the road between
the airport at Ivato and the capital. South of Tana, in the nearby town
of Ambatolampy there are some really splendid old trees along the roadside
near the town center. When one sees mature trees of C. decipiens,
one wonders why so few people grow them. Who needs Hyophorbe when
there is such a fine alternative? There is another feature of the palm that
should particularly excite palm growers in the cooler tropics and subtropics
and of which growers in southern California are already aware. Chrysalidocarpus
decipiens is a palm of the high plateau of Madagascar, an area that
is relatively cool and, at times, quite dry.
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