Roystonea regia

Roystonea regia subsp. var.	Cuban royal palm, Florida royal palm, royal palm
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Roystonea regia, commonly known as the Cuban royal palm, Florida royal palm, or simply the royal palm is a species of palm which is native to southern Florida, Mexico and parts of Central America and the northern Caribbean. It ranged into central Florida in the eighteenth century but in modern times it is only known from tropical parts of south Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted throughout the tropics and subtropics as an ornamental tree. Although it is sometimes called R. elata, the name conserved name R. regia now the correct name for the species. Populations in Cuba and Florida were long seen as separate species, but are now considered to belong to a single species.

View of a mature individual from below. The distinctive crownshaft and canopy of pinnate leaves is clearly visible. Note the smooth trunk and rows of circular leaf scars

Roystonea regia is a large palm which reaches a height of 20 – 30 m tall, (with heights up to 34.5 m reported) and a stem diameter of about 47 cm . (K. F. Connor reports a maximum stem diameter of 61 cm .) The trunk is stout, very smooth and grey-white in colour with a characteristic bulge below a distinctive green crownshaft. Trees have about 15 leaves which can be up to 4 m 0 long.

The flowers are white with pinkish anthers. The fruit are spheroid to ellipsoid in shape, 8.9 – 15 mm long and 7 – 10.9 mm wide. They are green when immature, turning red and eventually purplish-black as they mature.

Root nodules containing Rhizobium bacteria have been found on R. regia trees in India. The presence of rhizobia-containing root nodules is usually associated with nitrogen fixation in legumes; this was the first record of root nodules in a monocotyledonous tree. Further evidence of nitrogen fixation was provided by the presence of nitrogenase (an enzyme used in nitrogen fixation) and leghaemoglobin, a compound which allows nitrogenase to function by reducing the oxygen concentration in the root nodule. In addition to evidence of nitrogen fixation, the nodules were also found to be producing indole acetic acid, an important plant hormone.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Oreodoxa regia, HBK. (Roystonea regia, O. F. Cook). Royal Palm. Caudex 40-60 ft. high.: Lvs. 8-10 ft. long; lf.-segms. 2½ ft. long, 1 in. or less wide, linear, acuminate: fr. ovoid, ½ in. Cuba, Antigua.—Commonly planted in the W. Indies; also elsewhere. The form in Fla. (separated as Roystonea floridana, O. F. Cook) is said to lack the characteristic bulge in the trunk and to grow in reach of tide-water rather than on the hills or elevated lands. In the Everglades this native palm sometimes reaches 125 ft. in height, with Lvs. 15 ft. long. It is tall and slender when young. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Varieties

synonyms:
Oreodoxa regia Kunth
Oenocarpus regius (Kunth) Spreng.
Palma elata W.Bartram
Roystonea floridana O.F.Cook
Euterpe jenmanii C.H.Wright
Euterpe ventricosa C.H.Wright
Roystonea jenmanii (C.H.Wright) Burret
Roystonea elata (W.Bartram) F.Harper
Roystonea ventricosa (C.H.Wright) L.H.Bailey
Roystonea regia var. hondurensis P.H.Allen

Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Roystonea regia. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Roystonea regia QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)