New Tree Species Found In Madagascar

[Bianca]

This undated photo released by the Royal Botanic Gardens,
shows a newly discovered species of palm tree on the
Indian Ocean Island of Madagascar. A self-destructing palm
tree that flowers once every 100 years and then dies has
been discovered on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar,
botanists said Thursday Jan. 17, 2008.

The name of the giant palm and its remarkable life cycle will
be detailed in a study by Kew Gardens scientists in the
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society published Thursday.

(AP Photo/Royal Botanic Gardens, John Dransfield)






                                                    New tree species found in Madagascar





By JONNY HOGG,
Associated Press Writer
Wed Jan 16, 11:04 PM ET
 
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar - A self-destructing palm tree that flowers once every 100 years and then dies has been
discovered on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, botanists said Thursday.
 
The name of the giant palm and its remarkable life cycle will be detailed in a study by Kew Gardens scientists in the
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society published Thursday.

"It's spectacular. It does not flower for maybe 100 years and when it's like this it can be mistaken for other types of palm,"
said Mijoro Rakotoarinivo, who works for the London botanical gardens in Madagascar.

"But then a large shoot, a bit like an asparagus, grows out of the top of the tree and starts to spread. You get something
that looks a bit like a Christmas tree growing out of the top of the palm," he said.

The branches of this shoot then become covered in hundreds of tiny white flowers that ooze with nectar, attracting insects
and birds.

But the effort of flowering and fruiting depletes the tree so much that within a few months it collapses and dies, said botanist
Dr. John Dransfield, author of the study.

Dransfield noted that "even for Madagascar this is a stupendous palm and an astonishing discovery."

The world's fourth largest island, Madagascar is renowned for its unusual flora and fauna, including 12,000 species of plant
found nowhere else in the world. Indeed 90 percent of its plant species are endemic.

The palm tree, which grows to 66 feet in height and has about 16-foot leaves, is only found in an extremely remote region in
the northwest of the country, some four days by road from the capital. Local villagers have known about it for years although
none had seen it in flower until last year.

The bizarre flowering ritual was first spotted by Frenchman Xavier Metz, who runs a cashew plantation nearby. After seeing it
he notified Kew Gardens.

Puzzling Dransfield is how botanists had missed such a "whopping palm" until now. According to him it is the largest palm species
in the country but there appear to be only about 100 in existence.

He also questions how the palm got to Madagascar. The tree has similarities to Chuniophoeniceae palms, however these are only found in Asia, more than 3,700 miles away.

Dransfield suggests the plant has been quietly living and dramatically dying in Madagascar since the island split with mainland
India 80 million years ago

[Bianca]

                                          Giant palm tree puzzles botanists 





Jonny Hogg
BBC News,
Antananarivo 

The plant is said to be so big it can be seen on Google Earth


Enlarge Image
 
Botanists have discovered a new species of giant self-destructing palm in Madagascar which is so large that it can be seen in satellite photos.
The tree, which only exists in the remote north-west of the island, is unlike anything else ever found on the island before.

Although villagers had known about it for many years none had seen it flower.

When this finally happened last year, botanists found that the tree spent so much energy flowering that it died.






'Spectacular'



The palm is 20m (60ft) high with leaves 5m (16ft) long, the tallest tree of its type in the country, but for most of its life - around 100 years - it appears fairly unremarkable apart from its size.

It was only when botanists from Kew Gardens in London were told of its extraordinary flowering pattern that they began to be interested.

"It's spectacular," says Mijoro Rakotoarinivo, who works with Kew and has seen the tree.

"At first there's only a very long shoot like asparagus from the top of the tree and then, a few weeks later, this unique shoot starts to spread.

"At the end of this process you can have something like a Christmas tree."






'To be protected'




The branches then become covered with hundreds of tiny flowers, which are pollinated and turn into fruit.

But the tree expends so much energy on flowering that it eventually collapses and dies.

 
Madagascar is home to more than 10,000 plant species

The tree has been named Tahina spectabilis, which is Malagasy for "blessed" or "to be protected". It is also one of the given names of Anne-Tahina Metz, the daughter of Xavier Metz, who discovered the palm two years ago.

Scientists have identified 92 individual trees, all confined to the same remote area.

Dr John Dransfield, who announced the name of the tree in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, is baffled as to how the it came to be in the country.

It bears a resemblance to a species of palm found in regions of Asia; 6,000km away.

It is possible that the palm has quietly gone through a remarkable evolution since Madagascar split with India some 80m years ago.

It is now hoped that the plant will be conserved and that selling seeds can generate revenue for people living nearby, as well as allowing gardeners across the world to own their very own self-destructing Malagasy palm tree.

Madagascar is home to more than 10,000 plant species, 90% of which occur nowhere else in the world. These include 170 known species of palm.