Roystonea stellata is an extinct species of palm endemic to Yagruma terrace in the Maisí region of Guantánamo Province in eastern Cuba. The species is known from only a single collection made by French-born botanist Frère León in 1939.

Roystonea stellata

Extinct (1939)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Roystonea
Species:
R. stellata
Binomial name
Roystonea stellata

Description

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Roystonea stellata was a large palm which reached heights of 15 metres (49 ft). The 95 cm (3.12 ft) inflorescences bears white male and female flowers. Fruit were 9.8–10.5 millimetres (0.39–0.41 in) long and 7.8–8.5 mm (0.31–0.33 in) wide, and black when ripe. The single known collection is not complete enough for a complete description.[2]

Status

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No specimens have been found in repeated surveys of its habitat since the 1990s, and thus R. stellata is probably extinct.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Verdecia, R. (2020). "Roystonea stellata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T38690A87708976. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T38690A87708976.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ Zona, Scott (December 1996). "Roystonea (Arecaceae: Arecoideae)". Flora Neotropica. 71: 1–35. no
  3. ^ Zona, Scott; Raúl Verdecia; Angela Leiva Sánchez; Carl E. Lewis; Mike Maunder (2007). "The conservation status of West Indian palms (Arecaceae)". Oryx. 41 (3): 300–05. doi:10.1017/S0030605307000404.