Carpoxylon macrospermum
Carpoxylon macrospermum
The nohoej or bunglu, bungool, nibaglou (Carpoxylon macrospermum H.Wendl. & Drude 1875) is an arboreal species belonging to the Arecaceae family.
Systematic –
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Division Magnoliophyta,
Class Liliopsida,
Subclass Arecidae,
Order Arecales,
Arecaceae family,
Subfamily Arecoideae,
Tribe Areceae,
Subtribe Carpoxylinae,
Genus Carpoxylon,
Species C. macrospermum.
Etymology –
The term Carpoxylon comes from the Greek words “καρπός” (carpós), i.e. fruit and “ξύλον” (xylon), i.e. wood, in reference to the woody endocarp;
The specific epithet macrospermum comes from the Greek “μακρός” (macrós), meaning large and “σπέρμα” (sperm), meaning seed.
Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Carpoxylon macrospermum is an endemic palm of Aneityum (or Anatom), Futuna and Tanna in the Vanuatu Vanuatu archipelago and is the only species of the Carpoxylon genus.
In these areas it is present in its natural habitat with few individuals, in the rainforest at low altitudes.
Description –
Carpoxylon macrospermum is a helpless, solitary, erect monoecious palm, up to over 25 m tall, with an enlarged bottle-shaped base, up to 50 cm in diameter, which tapers into a cylindrical stem, 25-30 cm in diameter , on which the whitish traces of the fallen leaves are visible.
The leaves are pinnate, on a robust petiole about 25 cm long, strongly and elegantly arched, up to 4 m long; the leaf base, 1.5-1.8 m long, entirely wraps the stem, forming a sort of tubular capital of a shiny light green colour. The leaflets, about 70 per side, are linear with a sharp apex, rigid, ascending, arranged regularly along the rachis to form a V, dark green in color above, slightly lighter below, 1.2-1.8 cm long in the middle part m and 3.5-3.8 cm wide.
The inflorescences are found on a robust 14 cm long peduncle, under the leaves (intrafoliar), erect, with third-order ramifications, initially enclosed in three deciduous bracts, the outermost (profile) dark green in colour, about 70 cm long.
The fruits are elliptical to obovoid in shape with the eccentric stigmatic scar prominent at the apex, initially green then red when ripe, 6-7 cm in length and 3.2-3.5 cm in diameter, with fibrous mesocarp and endocarp woody.
The seed is ovoid, 3 cm long and 2.5 cm in diameter, homogeneous endosperm with a small central cavity.
Cultivation –
Carpoxylon macrospermum is found in the lowland rainforests of the “New Hebrides” (the ancient name for Vanuatu) where the fruits are a food source for coconut crabs and flying foxes. The gelatinous endosperm of immature fruits, with a pleasant flavour, is sometimes locally consumed.
It is an easy-to-grow and fast-growing palm; it is one of the most ornamental palms for gardens in tropical and humid subtropical climate zones, as it cannot tolerate temperatures close to 0 °C, isolated, in groups or in rows on the sides of avenues.
For its cultivation it requires full sun, except in the juvenile phase when partial shade is preferable, and it is not particularly demanding regarding the soil, as long as it is perfectly draining, but it grows best in sandy ones rich in organic substance, kept almost constantly humid, but without stagnation; well rooted it can resist short periods of dryness, but does not tolerate hot and arid winds.
The young plants, grown in pots, are very elegant for the decoration of bright interiors, using a draining organic soil, with abundant watering in summer, more spaced in winter, but without ever allowing it to dry out completely, with minimum night temperatures above 15 °C.
It reproduces by seed, previously kept in water for 3 days, buried for about ¾ in draining organic soil kept humid at a temperature of 26-28 °C, with germination times starting from two weeks.
Customs and Traditions –
Carpoxylon macrospermum is known by some local names, including: nohoej (Aneityum), bunglu, bungool, nibaglou (Malakula).
The species was described for the first time by Hermann Wendland and Carl Georg Oscar Drude in 1875 in Linnaea, starting from the single fruit collected on the island of Aneityum and inserted in a genus different from that of the palm, with similar fruits, present in island, the Veitchia spiralis H.Wendl. (1868), but with the non-eccentric apical stigmatic scar. Considered extinct for over a century, until in 1987 the Australian botanist John Leslie Dowe (1962) accidentally “rediscovered” it on the island of Espiritu Santo. Subsequently, 32 adult individuals were recorded in the wild (Aneityum, Futuna and Tanna), and just over 100 cultivated near the villages of the islands of the archipelago, as well as numerous young individuals. At the same time, seeds were distributed to various botanical institutions and, to a limited extent, to private collectors, and since the end of the 20th century numerous specimens have been present in various parts of the world.
In the Vanuatu islands the palm is used both as an ornamental and for minor uses, the gelatinous endosperm of the immature fruits, with a pleasant flavour, is sometimes consumed; that of ripe fruits, extremely hard, is used for pipe bowls. The leaves are used as covering material and to make brooms, the bract (profile) for mats and as an impromptu container for foods and liquids. The fruit is also a food source for coconut crabs (Birgus latro L. 1767) and flying foxes (Pteropus anetianus Gray, 1870).
Due to the restricted area of origin, the anthropic pressure and the limited number of mature individuals, in constant decline, the species was included (1998) in the red list of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) as “Critically Endangered” (at very high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future).
Preparation Method –
Carpoxylon macrospermum is a palm harvested in its natural state or cultivated for both ornamental and food purposes.
The gelatinous endosperm of immature fruits is consumed; when the fruits become adults they are used as pipe bowls.
The leaves are used both as a covering material and to make brooms; the bract (profile) for mats and as an extemporaneous container of foods and liquids.
The fruit is also a food source for wildlife.
Guido Bissanti
Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.
Photo source:
– https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/191030444/original.jpeg
– https://cdn.plantatlas.org/img/specimens/FTG/77428.jpg
Attention: Pharmaceutical applications and food uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; we therefore decline any responsibility for their use for healing, aesthetic or food purposes.