Bibliography

Conservation Projects Development Unit (CPDU)

A Conservation and Horticultural Bibliography: Hyophorbe palms of Mauritius, Rodrigues and Round Island

Botanic Gardens hold individuals of threatened species. Often these species are held within extensive collections, and their value and history unrecognized. The Bibliographies produced here illustrate the horticultural histories of some threatened plant species. It is hoped that these examples will illustrate the horticultural heritage of botanic gardens, promote interest in threatened plant species, and be utilised for botanic garden education programmes.

Chronology of Events

1845 H. indica introduced in 1839, which had not yet flowered, growing at Calcutta Botanic garden. 58
1847 H. indica at Calcutta Botanic Gardens. 2
1850 Hyophorbe sp. recorded at the Natural History Museum in Paris. 20
1854 H. indica at Buitenzorg Botanic Garden, Java. 56
1859 H. amaricaulis, H. indica and H. verschaffeltii at Adelaide Botanic Garden, South Australia. 32
1863 H. indica at Mauritius Botanic Garden. 28
1866 Translation required. 44
1866 H. indica at Buitenzorg Botanic Garden, Java. 57
1870 H. verschaffeltii recommended as an ideal house plant. "One could go into raptures about such a species as Hyophorbe verschaffeltii, with its elegantly pinnated foliage, narrow gracefully drooping leaflets, and the fine contrast their dark green colour forms with the yellowish petiole". 54
1876 H. verschaffelti at Government Gardens, Hong Kong. 31
1877 Descriptors of the three species known to cultivation at the time: H. indica, H. verschaffeltii and H. amaricaulis. H. indica is described as being rare, whilst the other two are considered to be common. 15
1879 H. verschaffeltii considered to be the only species endemic to Rodriguez, with H. amaricaulis and H. indica native to Round Island and Reunion respectively.16
1880 H. verschaffeltii at Brisbane Botanic Gardens. 37
1880 H. amaricaulis, H. indica and H. verschaffeltii at Royal Botanic Garden, Mauritius. 22
1880 H. amaricaulis and H. indica at the Botanical gardens, Singapore. 47
1889 H. verschaffeltii at Singapore Botanic Gardens. 3
1891 H. verschaffelti at Bangalore Botanic Gardens. 21
1893 H. verschaffeltii at Rio Botanic Garden. 51
1894 H. amaricaulis is considered to be one of only two species of plant endemic to Round Island. 411895 H. indica described in its habitat on Réunion Island, as being common and found in humid forests, Salzie and the River Roches. 24
1895 H. indica and H. verschaffeltii at Sydney Botanic Gardens. 4
1897 H. amaricaulis growing at Durban Botanic garden. Planted in 1892. 45
1898 H .verschaffeltii growing at Madras Horticultural Society Garden. 34
1904 H. verschaffeltii and H. amaricaulis at Jamaica Botanic Gardens. 29
1906 H. verschaffeltii. 5
1906 H. amaricaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. 6
1912 H. amaricaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Singapore Botanic gardens. 1
1914 H. amaricaulis and H. Verschaffeltii at Buitzenbourg Botanic Garden, Java19
1915 H. amaricaulis at Dominica Botanic Gardens. 7
1919 H. amaricaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Saigon Botanic Gardens. 23
1926 H. amaricaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Peradeniya Botanic Gardens,Ceylon50
1927 H. amaricaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Harvard Botanical Gardens, Soledad Estate, Cuba. 35
1929 H. amaricaulis at Honolulu Botanic Garden. Growing to only 15 feet, as opposed to 60 feet in Mauritius. Several are cultivated. 48
1930 H. amaricaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Buitenzorg Botanic gardens, Java. 25
1933 H. amaricaulis, H. indica and H. verschaffeltii at Harvard Botanical Gardens, Soledad Estate, Cuba. 36
1934 H. amaricaulis and H. verschaffeltii amongst plants being grown by the Department of Forestry in Taiwan. 45
1942 L. H. Bailey conducts the first review of the genus and decides to split it into two distinct groups: Hyophorbe and Mascarena. The new groups now are: Hyophorbe indica and Hyophorbe vaughanii; Mascarena revaughanii, Mascarena lagenicaulis and Mascarena verschaffeltii. 14
1955 H. verschaffeltii at the Dominican Botanic Gardens. 8
1957 H. amaricaulis, H. indica and H. verschaffeltii at Bogor Botanic Garden, Indonesia. 9
1963 H. verschaffeltii at Bogor Botanic Garden, Indonesia. 10
1965 Hyophorbe lagenicaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Longwood Gardens, Philadelphia. 38
1970 Hyophorbe revaughanii, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis and Hyophorbe verschaffeltii at Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Florida. 33
1970 Hyophorbe lagenicaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Longwood Gardens, Philadelphia. 39
1972 H. lagenicaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Honolulu Botanic Garden. A cross had also been made to give rise to H. lagenicaulis X H. verschaffeltii. 17
1975 As above. 18
1978 HE.Moore renames the genus Mascarene.The first detailed and considered description of H. lagenicaulis is given. 46
1984 Full and detailed descriptions of all five species and key are produced. 12
1984 H. lagenicaulis and H. verschaffeltii at Honolulu Botanic Garden. The garden hybrid is also included. 13
1985 H. lagenicaulis at Kampong. 531986 Hyophorbe verschaffeltii growing at Utrecht University Botanic Gardens. 11
1987 Attempts to propagate H. amaricaulis by embryo culture undertaken. Although several were successfully germinated, the programme still requires work. 26
1990 Propagation of Hyophorbe lagenicaulis by embryo culture is found to be successful in reducing the time from flowering / fruit setting to harvesting and consequently germination, by doing so within 3 weeks, as opposed to the 3-4 months normally taken. 52
1990 H. lagenicaulis and H. verschaffeltii at The Great Conservatory, Osaka, Japan. 55
1990 Wyse Jackson reports on the last known specimen of H. amaricaulis in cultivation, and a four month observation of the plant, with attempts to hand pollinate the flowers. Other specimens had been thought to exist, until it was realised that they had been wrongly identified. Due to whether conditions the project was, however, unsuccessful. A warning is issued to collection. Antoine et al (1984), Flore des Mascareignes, part 189, pp. 12-8. 59
1991 H. lagenicaulis and H. verschaffeltii at The Climatron, Missouri Botanic garden. 30
1996 A full description written up on H. lagenicaulis. 27
1996 H. verschaffeltii at Tallin Botanic Garden, Estonia. 49
1996 An IUCN action plan is drawn up for threatened palms and includes reference to the Mascarene Island Palms, for their"conservation and sustained utilisation"40
1998 A report on a new finding of what is considered to be possibly a group of H. amaricaulis in Cuba. The author is awaiting confirmation from botanists, who have yet to go and visit the site. 43
 

 Hyophorbe lagenicaulis (M.Maunder)

The history of the Mauritian endemic, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, illustrates the benefits of timely conservation intervention. This species is restricted to Round Island, Mauritius, however, historical maps and illustrations suggest that it once occurred on mainland Mauritius and some of the small islets such as Ile aux Aigrettes. Only eight adult individuals survived. Photographs from the 1920's suggest that this species was abundant throughout the palm community on the island, however, as a result of introduced goats and rabbits the population declined dramatically. Since the eradication of exotic herbivores in 1986 the population has increased dramatically with over 300 young plants recorded in 1998.

This palm has been collected repeatedly from Round Island and is extensively cultivated on Mauritius. Accordingly the old palms found in public parks and  private estates on Mauritius predate the population bottleneck and possibly contain genetic diversity that has been lost on Round Island. There is the potential to utilise these non-provenanced cultivated sources for conservation programmes. A new population has been established on Isle aux Aigrette as part of a GEF funded habitat restoration project.
 
 

Bibliography

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  2. Anon (1847) Plan of the Arrangements in the Honorable Company's Botanic Garden, with a list of Plants in the Natural and Medicinal Gardens, p. 73.
  3. Anon (1889) Guide to the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, p. 22, 26.
  4. Anon (1895) Catalogue of Plants in the Government Botanic gardens, Sydney, New South Wales, p. 116.
  5. Anon (1906) Catalogo delle plante dei Giardini D'Acclimazione delle Isole Borromee, p. 124.
  6. Anon (1906) Catalogue of Tender Plants Grown at Horticultural hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, p. 32.
  7. Anon (1915) Official Guide to the Botanic Gardens, Dominica, p. 8.
  8. Anon (1955) Official Guide to the Botanic Gardens, Dominica, p. 7.
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  10. Anon (1963) An Alphabetical List of Plant Species Cultivated in the Hortus Botanicus Bogoriensis, p. 131.
  11. Anon (1986) Catalogue of Plant Collections in the University Botanic Gardens, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1986, p. 324.
  12. Antoine, R., Bosser, J. and Brenan, J.P.H. (1984) Flore Des Mascareignes, La Réunion, Maurice, Rodrigues, part 189, pp. 12-8.
  13. Ayers, P. (1984) Honolulu Botanic gardens Inventory 1984, p. 155.
  14. Bailey, L.H. 1942 'Palms of The Mascarenes' Gentes Herbarium, vol. VI, pp. 51 - 52, 57, 67 - 85.
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  21. Cameron, J. (1891) Catalogue of Plants in the Botanical Garden, Bangalore, and its vicinity, p. 210.
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  25. Dakkus, P.H.W. (1930) An Alphabetical list of Plants Cultivated in the Botanic gardens, Buitenzorg, p. 165.
  26. Douglas, G.C. (1987) 'Embryo culture of a rare plant, Hyophorbe amaricaulis Martius (Palmae)' Journal of Plant Physiology, vol. 130, pp. 73-7.
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  52. Rosario, T.L., Paralisan, H.A. and Siar, S.V. (1990) 'Floral biology, cytology and embryo culture of champagne palm (Mascarene lagenicaulis Linn.)'. The Philippine Agriculturist, vol. 73, no. 3 and 4, pp. 349-57.
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    59. Wyse Jackson, P.S., Cronk, Q.C.B and Parnell, J.A.N. (1990) 'Notes on a critically endangered palm from Mauritius, Hyophorbe amaricaulis Mart.' Botanic Garden Conservation News, vol.1, part 6, pp. 24-6.

    Picture (M.Maunder) H. amaricaulis

Biodiversity Restoration Project in Mauritius

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