Etymology:
Latin latus, wide, folium, leaf. Although technically referring
to leaves, this name is actually from the distinctively broad leaflets.
Historical notes: Named in 1848 by Dutch botanist F.A.W. Miquel. All type material was apparently lost, and a new type based on material collected in San Luis Potosi was designated in 1986 . Distinguishing features: Plants of small stature with broad thin leaflets even arranged along the rachis Distribution and habitat: Restricted to oak forests in the cloud zone of the Sierra Madre Oriental, in San Luis Potosi, Queretaro and Hidalgo states, Mexico. Conservation status: Rare. 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants category V.
Description:
Plants arborescent; stem 10-20 cm long, stem 10 cm diam. Leaves 2-4 in crown. New growth emerging bronze, red or chocolate brown. Leaves light or bright green, semiglossy, 50-100 cm long, flat (not keeled) in section, with 30-80 leaflets; vernation straight; rachis not or slightly spirally twisted; petiole 15-20 cm long, unarmed. Leaflets not clustered, lanceolate, asymmetric, broadest above middle, not falcate, weakly discolorous, thick or leathery; margins flat; median leaflets 15-24 cm long, 20-40 mm wide. Pollen cones yellow-green, fusiform-cylindrical, 15-17 cm long, 2-2.5 cm diam.; peduncle 5 cm long. Seed cones yellow-green, ovoid-cylindrical, 5-6 cm long, 4-4.5 cm diam. Seeds ovoid, 18-19 mm long, 14 mm wide; sarcotesta white, aging to
brown.
|
