Zombia

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Not to be confused with Zambia.

Zombia
Zombia antillarum at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, Florida, United States
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Coryphoideae
Tribe: Cryosophileae
Genus: Zombia
L.H. Bailey
Species:
Z. antillarum
Binomial name
Zombia antillarum
Synonyms[2]

Chamaerops antillarum Desc.
Coccothrinax anomala Becc.
Oothrinax anomala (Becc.) O.F.Cook
Zombia antillarum var. gonzalezii J.Jiménez Alm.

Zombia antillarum, commonly known as the zombie palm, is a species of

endemic to the island of Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti) in the Greater Antilles. Usually found in dry, hilly areas of northern and southern Haiti and the northwest of the Dominican Republic, Z. antillarum is a relatively short fan palm with clustered stems and a very distinctive appearance caused by its persistent spiny leaf sheaths. Threatened by habitat destruction in Haiti
, Z. antillarum is a popular ornamental species due to its distinctive appearance, low maintenance requirements and salt tolerance.

Description

Details of the stem of Zombia antillarum showing persistent, spiny leaf sheaths.

Zombia antillarum is a small palm which grows in dense, multi-stemmed clumps with stems up to 3 metres (10 ft) tall and 5 centimetres (2 in) in diameter. Individuals bear nine to 12 fan-shaped (or palmate) leaves which are greyish-white on the lower surface.[3] The leaf sheaths remain attached to the stem after the leaf drops off. The intervening tissue gradually degrades, and the woody vascular tissue splits, forming the spines which are characteristic of the species.[4]

The

carpel. Fruit are white in colour[3] (although orange-fruited individuals are also known to exist),[5][6] oblong or pear-shaped, 1.5–2 cm (0.6–0.8 in) in diameter and bear a single seed. The flowers and fruit are borne among the leaves due to the fact that the inflorescences are shorter than the leaves.[3] Trees can produce 5000 seeds per year, predominantly in July and August.[6]

The species is believed to be wind pollinated.[7]

Taxonomy

Descourtilz's original illustration of Zombia antillarum from Flore médicale des Antilles, 1821

Zombia is a monotypic genus: it includes only one species, Z. antillarum. The earliest description of the species is found in the work of French physician and botanist Michel Étienne Descourtilz. In 1821 he placed it in the genus Chamaerops as C. antillarum.[8] Italian naturalist Odoardo Beccari independently described the species in 1908, placing it in the genus Coccothrinax (as C. anomala). Recognising that it was distinct enough to be placed in its own genus, American botanist Liberty Hyde Bailey erected the genus Zombia in 1931 to accommodate the species that Descourtilz had described. This generated the combination Z. antillarum. In selecting a name for the genus, Bailey noted that

"it would be preferable if this endemic palm could bear a Latin name indicative of its nativity rather than an exotic binomial of no relation with its country and the people".[6]

In 1941, another American botanist, Orator F. Cook, moved Beccari's C. anomala to a new genus, Oothrinax. This generated a fourth combination, O. anomala. Since Descourtilz's description pre-dates that of Beccari, Zombia antillarum (which is based on Descourtilz's description) has priority over Oothrinax anomala. In addition, Cook's name is invalid, since it was never formally described.[9]

In the first edition of

phylogenetic analyses showed that the Old World and New World members of the Thrinacinae were not closely related. As a result, Zombia and related genera were places in their own tribe, Cryosophileae.[12] Within this tribe, Zombia appears to be most closely related to the genera Coccothrinax and Hemithrinax, and the species Thrinax morrisii, with the remainder of the genus Thrinax being a sister taxon to this group.[13] Because of this, T. morrisii was moved to a new genus, Leucothrinax.[14]

In 1960, Dominican botanist José de Jesús Jiménez Almonte described a variety of Z. antillarum, which was distinguished from the typical variety by its smaller, pear-shaped fruits with a "dirty yellow" colour. He named this variety Z. antillarum var. gonzalezii.[5] More recent workers have not considered this form distinctive enough to maintain it as a distinct variety.[2]

Evolutionary history

Cryosophileae  
Simplified phylogeny of the Cryosophileae based on four nuclear genes and the matK plastid gene.[15]

Ángela Cano and collaborators concluded that the ancestors of the Cryosophileae and its sister taxon, the tribe

Sabaleae probably evolved in North America during the late Cretaceous and dispersed to South America by the Eocene before re-invading North and Central America during the Oligocene. They concluded that it was more probable that the ancestors of Zombia colonised the Caribbean from North or Central America rather than from South America.[15]

Common names

Zombia antillarum is called the Zombie palm[16][17] or Zombi palm[6] by horticulturists. Orator F. Cook coined the name "Haitian cactus palm" due to the spiny appearance of its trunk. In Haiti, it is usually known as latanye zombi (latanier zombi in French; the zombie fan palm), or latanye pikan, (latanier piquant in French, the spiny fan palm). It is also called latanier savanne or latanier marron. Latanye or latanier is a common term for fan palms in Haiti, so these names ("savanna fan palm" and "wild fan palm") are not specific to this species; they are also used for several species of Coccothrinax. In the Dominican Republic, the species is called guanito or guanillo. These are diminutives of guano, which is used for several species of Coccothrinax and Thrinax.[6] In his 1821 description of the species, Descourtilz used the name latanier épineux.[8]

Distribution

Base of the stem of Zombia antillarum showing stem sprouts.

Zombia antillarum is

above sea level. Zombia antillarum is associated with serpentine soils, but is also found on calcareous soils. In Haiti, Z. antillarum grows in association with a variety of other palms, including Coccothrinax argentea, Bactris plumeriana, Roystonea borinquena, Sabal causiarum and S. domingensis. In the Dominican Republic, it grows in association with Pinus occidentalis, Calyptronoma rivalis, R. borinquena, S. domingensis, Copernicia berteroana and C. argentea.[6]

Conservation status

Although listed as "not threatened" in the 2006

browsed by livestock.[6] The 2016 Dominican Republic Vascular Plant Red List considered Z. antillarum to be Critically Endangered in the country using the IUCN Red List's ranking system.[19]

Uses

The plant is a popular

Sabaneta in the Dominican Republic, the petioles are reportedly "used to mix manioc flour for making cassava bread."[6]

In 1821,

Taino Amerindians "for its powerful properties".[6]

Fabienne Boncy Taylor and Joel C. Timyan explored the connection between the "zombie palm" and beliefs about

thatch
made from the leaves of the plant could prevent zombies from being used to spy on its occupants. Other sources, however, were reportedly unaware of these uses. Taylor and Timyan concluded that

"we were able to find a link, albeit weak, between the name Zombia and Haitian culture, even though we could not verify that this species is typically associated with zombies".[6]

References

  1. ^ Timyan, J. 2023. Zombia antillarum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023: e.T201658A2711162. Accessed on 13 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Zombia antillarum". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-691-08537-1
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-19-854572-9
    .
  5. ^ a b Jiménez, José de Js. (1960). "Novelties in the Dominican Flora". Rhodora. 62 (741): 235–238.
  6. ^
    S2CID 13464985
    .
  7. JSTOR 2387879
    .
  8. ^ a b Descourtilz, M.E. (1821). Flore médicale des Antilles, ou, Traité des plantes usuelles: des colonies Françaises, Anglaises, Espagnoles et Portugaises.
  9. ^ "Oothrinax anomala (Becc.) O. F. Cook, nom. inval". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  10. ^ Uhl, Natalie E.; John Dransfield (1987). Genera Palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore Jr. Lawrence, Kansas: The L. H. Bailey Hortorium and the International Palm Society.
  11. ^ Moore, H.E. (1973). "The Major Groups of Palms and Their Distribution". Gentes Herbarum. 11: 27–140.
  12. JSTOR 25070242
    .
  13. S2CID 40119059
    .
  14. ^ Lewis, Carl E.; Scott Zona (2008). "Leucothrinax morrisii, a new name for a familiar Caribbean palm". Palms. 52 (2): 84–88.
  15. ^
    S2CID 90347155
    .
  16. ^ a b Corman, Murray J. (1999). "Landscape Palms Available for the New Millennium" (PDF). Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. 112: 251–252. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  17. ^ a b Haynes, Jody; John McLaughlin; Laura Vasquez; Adrian Hunsberger (2004). "Low-Maintenance Landscape Plants for South Florida". Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (ENH854). Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  18. doi:10.1017/S0030605307000404
    .
  19. ^ García, R., Peguero, B., Jiménez, F., Veloz, A. and Clase, T. 2016. Lista Roja de la Flora Vascular en República Dominicana.

External links

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