Flora of North America species comparison

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Dypsis lutescens

Dypsis

Areca palm, butterfly palm, yellow butterfly palm

butterfly palm
Leaves

2–2.5 m;

segments 60–70 cm, strongly ascending.

leaf bases unarmed, yellowish, forming distinct crownshaft;

blade pinnate [undivided], unarmed;

plication reduplicate;

segments lanceolate, evenly spaced, strongly ascending;

apices acuminate.
Inflorescences

axillary below crown of leaves, paniculate, with 3 orders of branching;

prophyll small;

peduncular bracts caducous, tubular.
Flowers

unisexual, sessile, in triads of 1 pistillate flower flanked by 2 staminate flowers.
Staminate flowers

sepals 3, imbricate, free;

petals 3, briefly connate basally, valvate;

stamens 6, free;

anthers dorsifixed;

pistillode present.
Pistillate flowers

sepals 3, imbricate, free;

petals 3, imbricate, free;

staminodes 6, minute;

pistil 1;

ovules 1;

stigmas 3.
Fruits

yellow, ellipsoid, 2.0–2.5 cm; yellow;

apex acute;

stigmatic scar basal.

drupes, ellipsoid;

exocarp yellow, smooth;

mesocarp fleshy;

endocarp thin, fibrous, terete in cross section.
Seeds

ovoid;

endosperm homogeneous;

embryo subbasal;

eophyll 2-cleft;

segments lanceolate.
Trunks

erect, clustered, less than 15 cm diam., clustering, erect, with conspicuous nodal rings, unarmed, occasionally branching near base.
2n

= 32.

Dypsis lutescens

Dypsis
Phenology Flowering spring-- through summer.
Habitat Moist organic soil over limestone in mesic hammocks and disturbed wooded areas
Elevation 0–10 m (0–0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; native; Africa (native to Madagascar) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
Native to Africa (Madagascar and adjacent islands)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

This species is a commonly cultivated ornamental palm in Florida, where it has escaped and sporadically naturalized in Dade County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Dypsis is a morphologically diverse genus restricted to Madagascar and adjacent islands. The genus has recently been revised and substantially expanded by J. Dransfield and H. J. Beentje (1995b). The most familiar species, D. lutescens (H. Wendland) Beentje & J. Dransfield, is hardly representative of the astonishing diversity in growth form, leaf shape, floral details, and fruit morphology found in the genus.

Species 140 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 22. FNA vol. 22, p. 115.
Parent taxa Arecaceae > subfam. Arecoideae > tribe Areceae > subtribe Dypsidinae > Dypsis Arecaceae > subfam. Arecoideae > tribe Areceae > subtribe Dypsidinae
Subordinate taxa
D. lutescens
Synonyms Chrysalidocarpus lutescens
Name authority (H. Wendland) Beentje & J. Dransfield: Palms Madagascar 212. (1995) Noroña ex Martius: in C. F. P. von Martius et al., Historia Naturalis Palmarum 3: 180. (1838)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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