Itaya

Itaya amicorum is a medium-size fan palm that is native to Brazil, Colombia and Peru. It is the only species in the genus Itaya. It was unknown to science until 1972, when it was discovered on the bank of the Itaya River in the Peruvian Amazon.[2]

For the river in Peru, see Itaya River.

Itaya
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Subfamily:	Coryphoideae
Tribe:	Cryosophileae
Genus:	Itaya H.E.Moore
Species:	I. amicorum
Binomial name
Itaya amicorum H.E.Moore

Description

Itaya amicorum is a medium-sized, single-stemmed palm with fan-shaped (or palmate) leaves. The stems reach a height of up to 4 metres (13 ft) with a diameter of 9 to 10 centimetres (3.5 to 3.9 in). Plants have between 11 and 25 leaves which have a roughly circular blade, about 2 m (6.6 ft) in diameter which is split into 10 to 16 broad leaflets, and a long petiole. The leaves have a whitish or silver-grey underside.[3]

Itaya amicorum is pleonanthic—it flowers repeatedly over the course of its lifespan—and hermaphroditic; both male and female sex organs are present in the same flowers.[4] The flowers are whitish in colour, while the fruit are yellowish-green, 2 to 2.5 cm (0.8 to 1.0 in) long, 1.5 to 2 cm (0.6 to 0.8 in) in diameter.

Taxonomy

NWTP   Sabaleae Sabal   Cryosophileae   Trithrinax         Itaya     Sabinaria         Chelyocarpus       Cryosophila         Schippia       Thrinax       Leucothrinax     Hemithrinax             Zombia     Coccothrinax

Simplified phylogeny of the New World thatch palms based on four nuclear genes and the matK plastid gene.[5]

Itaya is a monotypic genus—it includes only a single species, I. amicorum.[6] The species was first collected in 1972 along the Rio Itaya in Peru, and was described by Harold E. Moore the same year.[3] In the first edition of Genera Palmarum (1987), Natalie Uhl and John Dransfield placed the genus Itaya in the subfamily Coryphoideae, the tribe Corypheae and the subtribe Thrinacinae[4] Subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that the Old World and New World members of the Thrinacinae were not closely related. As a consequence of this, Itaya and related genera were places in their own tribe, Cryosophileae.[7]

Distribution

Itaya amicorum is found only in the western Amazon basin in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Originally thought to be endangered due to its narrow distribution, the species is now known to be more widely distributed.[3] The IUCN Red List categorises the species as data deficient.[8]

Uses

Fruit of Itaya amicorum

The Miraña, an indigenous Amerindian group in the Amazon, reportedly burn the trunks of Itaya amicorum in order to extract salt from them. The leaves are used for thatch.[3]

References

1. Loftus, C. & Chadburn, H. (2014). "Itaya amicorum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T38584A44446376. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T38584A44446376.en.
2. Piptocarpha (Compositae: Vernonieae). Flora Neotropica. New York: New York Botanical Garden Press. 2007. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-89327-482-5. OCLC 77504368.
3. Henderson, Andrew; Gloria Galeano; Rodrigo Bernal (1995). Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-0-691-08537-1.
4. 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. pp. 175–177.
5. Cano, Ángela; Bacon, Christine D.; Stauffer, Fred W.; Antonelli, Alexandre; Serrano‐Serrano, Martha L.; Perret, Mathieu (2018). "The roles of dispersal and mass extinction in shaping palm diversity across the Caribbean". Journal of Biogeography. 45 (6): 1432–1443. doi:10.1111/jbi.13225. ISSN 1365-2699.
6. J. Dransfield & N. W. Uhl (1998). "Palmae". In Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). Flowering plants, Monocotyledons: Alismatanae and Commelinanae (except Gramineae). The families and genera of vascular plants. 4. Springer. p. 361. ISBN 978-3-540-64061-5.
7. Dransfield, John; Natalie W. Uhl; Conny B. Asmussen; William J. Baker; Madeline M. Harley; Carl E. Lewis (2005). "A New Phylogenetic Classification of the Palm Family, Arecaceae". Kew Bulletin. 60 (4): 559–69. JSTOR 25070242.
8. Bernal, R. 1998. Itaya amicorum. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Archived 2014-06-27 at the Wayback Machine Downloaded on 20 July 2007.