New genus, SARIBUS, is resurrected.

[Mandrew968]

Through recent DNA findings, A new genus, SARIBUS, has made it's way back into nomenclature. Species such as Livistona merrillii, rotundifolia, and woodfordii as well as the monotypic genus, Pritchardiopsis(the only palmate palm endemic to New Caledonia) now reside in the old genus Saribus. Saribus was chosen because it is the first to have been used, historically, to describe the species in question. If you would like to know more about this exciting news, just log onto Palms.org to read the full article, in the new issue!

Now if anyone has anything to add, please feel free! I myself have a question: the previously popular palm, Livistona rotundifolia is now Saribus rotundifolius--where does this put Livistona robinsoniana?

[Alberto]

And Livistona saribus is still a Livistona?

[kylecawazafla]

wow! Thank you for the heads up!

[sarasota alex]

Andrew,

L. robinsoniana was placed under L. rotundifolia in 2009 and was no longer considered a separate species. I think it will most likely remain a synonym of S. rotundifolius for now. Dowe's paper "A Taxonomic Account of Livistona" in 2009 joined several other species in addition to L. robinsoniana: L. fengkaiensis under L. speciosa, L. tonkinensis under L. saribus, L. kimberleyana under L. lorophylla. I would imagine though that with the new genus in place the entire situation would need to be revisited and maybe the status of what used to be L. robinsoniana would change.

Alberto,

Yes. Kinda funny

[Mandrew968]

And Livistona saribus is still a Livistona?

Yes it is still a Livistona, although the alternative would be humorous

Palms with yellow, orange or red fruits were part of the exodus.

[paulgila]

i am curious regarding the origin of the word "saribus." any ideas what it means?

[Stevetoad]

i am curious regarding the origin of the word "saribus." any ideas what it means?

im pretty sure it was an enemy ship off of star trek...

[paulgila]

the "original cast" or TNG?

be more specific,man!

[MattyB]

I never liked the name Pritchariopsis anyway. Lame. It's like a Pritchardia and a Kentiopsis had a love child and they named it Paulchardiopsis

[buccaneers37]

I always assumed that Saribus was derived from Cerberus, which is a three headed dog guarding hell in Greek mythology. I figured this was the case because of the many ferocious "teeth" that are on the petioles. At least it made sense to me.

[Tyrone]

I always assumed that Saribus was derived from Cerberus, which is a three headed dog guarding hell in Greek mythology. I figured this was the case because of the many ferocious "teeth" that are on the petioles. At least it made sense to me.

That would be one hell of a guard dog. Imagine taking it to a vet for a check up.

Is the palm formerly known as Livistona robinsoniana actually unarmed. I've never seen a mature one and have grown seed labeled as L robinsoniana only to have it turn into something that is armed.

Best regards

Tyrone

[paulgila]

from Riffle: "epithet is a Latinized form of a Moluccan name for the species."

[MattyB]

Books, reading.......pffft

[paulgila]

just the response i expected from you,"non-reader."

[Stevetoad]

the "original cast" or TNG?

be more specific,man!

Original cast of course... It was discovered by james saribus kirk. Everyone knows that

[paulgila]

good god,yer right! how could i have forgotten?

[Mandrew968]

Tyrone--no. The formerly known Livistona robinsoniana has armed petioles as soon as it goes palmate. I have another that is not far from trunking and it has nasty thorns(but not Livistona saribus nasty) too.

[richnorm]

Thanks for the update, interesting stuff, I look forward to reading it in Palms.

[Carlo Morici]

Wow! I just got my "PALMS" yesterday and I could read this exciting paper. It is another great step forward the knowledge of palms.

Now I just need to sow as soon as possible all those Saribus spp. from New Guinea and surroundings.... S. chocolatinus, S. tothur, S. surru... Please help with seeds if anybody got some, since the New Guinean area of the Palmetum is still quite empty.

Carlo

[Oliver K.]

I only know "seribu" is the indonesian word for "1000" . Maybe it has something to do with that...since some of the palms grow naturally in Indonesia.

[Mandrew968]

I only know "seribu" is the indonesian word for "1000" . Maybe it has something to do with that...since some of the palms grow naturally in Indonesia.

from Riffle: "epithet is a Latinized form of a Moluccan name for the species."

Thank you, Paul.

[hanapalms]

I only have three species from the genus Livistona; chinensis, rotundifolia, and saribus. They all seem to belong. Now rotundifolia is out on its own. Saribus as a genus? Can't we look for new palms instead of shuffling names? I thought only did this within the genus. Oh, I forgot about Veillonia - Cyphophoenix.

[sarasota alex]

I think it's important to correctly re-classify species, genera, families and so on, based on the latest scientific knowledge. Saribus rotundifolius started out as a Corypha rotundifolia back in 1786, then had a brief stint as a Licuala rotundifolia in the early 1800s. In 1838 Blume described a new genus Saribus and included it there as a Saribus rotundifolius, together with S. chinensis (now Livistona chinensis) and S. cochinchinensis (now L. saribus). Independently in the same year Martius made a revision of Livistona (which at that time only included two species - L. humilis and L. inermis) and moved to the L. rotundifolia and two more species - L. chinensis (previously known as Latania chinensis), L. australis (previously known as Corypha australis).

So I guess what I'm trying to say is if we ignore the facts we might as well keep calling it a Corypha rotundifolia

[hanapalms]

Thanks for the lesson Alex.

I guess we will be seeing such movement in nomenclature as long as new ways of defining species are established or new technologies are developed to distinguish these differences.

Maybe the new references should add AKA and list all previous nomenclature to prevent or in some cases add to the confusion.

I think it's important to correctly re-classify species, genera, families and so on, based on the latest scientific knowledge. Saribus rotundifolius started out as a Corypha rotundifolia back in 1786, then had a brief stint as a Licuala rotundifolia in the early 1800s. In 1838 Blume described a new genus Saribus and included it there as a Saribus rotundifolius, together with S. chinensis (now Livistona chinensis) and S. cochinchinensis (now L. saribus). Independently in the same year Martius made a revision of Livistona (which at that time only included two species - L. humilis and L. inermis) and moved to the L. rotundifolia and two more species - L. chinensis (previously known as Latania chinensis), L. australis (previously known as Corypha australis).

So I guess what I'm trying to say is if we ignore the facts we might as well keep calling it a Corypha rotundifolia

[sarasota alex]

Thanks for the lesson Alex.

William, I didn't mean it that way

[Mandrew968]

I only have three species from the genus Livistona; chinensis, rotundifolia, and saribus. They all seem to belong. Now rotundifolia is out on its own. Saribus as a genus? Can't we look for new palms instead of shuffling names? I thought only did this within the genus. Oh, I forgot about Veillonia - Cyphophoenix.

I am all about a name change, when it is after extensive DNA analysis. I find it interesting to know Saribus is more genetically related to Licuala than Livistona. If we just did it by which palms looked like each other, then we would need Cyrtostachys to become a Dypsis and all the Latanias should become Bismarckias. You could even put Acanthophoenix with Dictyosperma--you get the idea!