View source for Category:CHRYSALIDOCARPUS

<big>A New Combination for a Previous Name</big>

<small>DONALD R. HODEL</small>

[[File:Chrysalidocarpus Burtscherorum.png|320px]]

In a just published paper (24 August 2022) based on a monumental molecular analysis of the
subtribe Dypsidinae (including until recently the genera Dypsis, Lemurophoenix, Marojejya, and
Masoala), which mostly occurs in Madagascar but with a few species in adjacent islands,
Eiserhardt et al. (2022) found that the genus Dypsis, comprising 173 species, was untenable as
previously understood. Thus, they justifiably divided Dypsis into three genera, in the process
resurrecting two of them from synonymy, Chrysalidocarpus and Vonitra, into which they moved
many of the former Dypsis species, necessitating numerous name changes sure to raise the ire
and hackles of palm collectors, hobbyists, and growers everywhere. Now new names have to be
learned and labels, lists, and databases corrected and updated; indeed, in some cases, even the
suffix of the species epithets will change (for example Dypsis basilonga to Chrysalidocarpus
basilongus).
[[Image:Ac acu ovz.jpg|thumb|left|500px|Large specimen, Trinidad, West Indies.]]I
For an old-timer like me, Chrysalidocarpus and Vonitra bring back memories of my first
introduction to palms 50 years ago as a student at California State Polytechnic University in
Pomona. Then, during a subtropical plant materials class that my late professor and soon-to-be
avid palm friend James L. Degen was conducting, I learned about Chrysalidocarpus lutescens, with
which I was immediately smitten because of its numerous attributes, including clustered habit
with neat, green, ringed stems, arching, bright green, pinnate leaves with attractive golden
yellow petioles and rachises, waxy white crownshaft, and golden fruits. Palm collectors often
overlook these features and scoff at this species now, perhaps because it is so common. Later,
when the name was changed to Dypsis lutescens, some raised their eyebrows and protested but
generally shrugged it off and accepted the name; it was certainly easier to say and spell.
So now, Eiserhardt et al. (2022) have moved many species out of Dypsis to the resurrected
Chrysalidocarpus (54 species) and some to Vonitra (10 species). While noting that morphology
alone is inadequate to understand and delineate genera in the Dypsidinae, they relied on
morphological characters in their key to distinguish these three genera, many of which overlap
or intergrade, pointing out the value of supporting molecular data. The fibrous and hairy leaf
bases fairly easily distinguish Vonitra; however, distinguishing between Chrysalidocarpus and
Dypsis is trickier. Generally, Chrysalidocarpus tends to comprise larger palms with larger stems
and leaves and thicker rachillae while Dypsis includes smaller, understory palms with slender
stems and smaller leaves and slender rachillae although outliers exist that defy easy classification. 

<small>Edit by João S. Costa</small>

[[:File:Chrysalidocarpus.pdf]]
[[Category:PALM GENERA]]