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Corypha utan
Lam. is undoubtedly one of the most
imposing species in the Australian palm flora with
its massive pachycaul trunks and hapaxanthic flowering and
fruiting extravaganza. In Australia this plant grows
along watercourses, floodplains and grasslands, or sometimes
amongst encroaching closed forest.
Corypha utan
(as C. elata
Roxb.) was first
recorded for the Australian flora by Ewart et al.(1912)
based on a specimen collected by J.O. Rully from the Gilbert
River on the western side of Cape York Peninsula. As
presently circumscribed
C. utan
is considered to occur
in the Northern Territory and Cape York Peninsula, Queensland
in Australia, as well as in New Guinea and other parts of
Malesia through to India and Burma (Jones 1995).
The distribution of Corypha
in the Northern Territory is well
documented with at least five recorded localities (Brock
1988; White 1988), all from the north-eastern part of Arnhem
Land. At Milingimbi it was noted in 1972 that the flesh of
the fruit was eaten and the leaves used for shelter (Brock
1988), although Wightman & Smith (1989) listed only the use
of the fruit for marbles.
The known distribution of this palm in Queensland is vague
as to precise localities. Recent publications covering the
Australian palm flora provide the following descriptions of
its Queensland distribution - Jones (1984): "It is very
common along some of the rivers flowing west from the high
country of Cape York Peninsula into the Gulf of Carpentaria".
Jones (1995): "It is common along some of the rivers flowing
west from the high country of Cape York Peninsula into the
Gulf of Carpentaria". Tucker (1988): "From the middle reaches
of the Laura River in the south east and the Mitchell River
in the west, north to the Ducie and Dulhunty Rivers" [the
Laura River is c. 15 25'S, the Mitchell River is c. 15 30'S
and the Dulhunty River is c. 11 50'S].
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Figure 1. C. utan in habitat, Coleman River, Cape York.
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Figure 2. C. utan
's massive inflorescence.
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Only Tucker (1988) provides a distribution map and this does
not indicate specific localities, although he did list the
species as occurring in his Cape York Peninsula divisions of
Western Plains, North Central Plains, Weipa area, Bamaga area,
Cape Melville Dunefields and Lakefield area. If
Corypha utan
exists in all of the Cape York Peninsula
divisions listed by Tucker, then his map is inaccurate as the
Bamaga area is not shaded to indicate its occurrence.
Corypha utan
is widespread on Cape York Peninsula and
has been recorded from at least 96 localities.
Despite this, there are few specimens preserved in herbaria.
As of January 1996 there was a grand total of eight different
collections of this palm deposited at the Queensland
Herbarium (BRI) and the Australian National Herbarium,
Atherton (QRS). These specimens are from (1) Kennedy Bend,
north of Laura, (2) Cabbage Tree Creek northwest of Laura,
(3) Kennedy River, Laura to Musgrave road, (4) near
Kowanyama, and (5) Nesbit River floodplain, 'Silver Plains'.
Most of these specimens (apart from the last) are from the
southern part of the putative range on Cape York Peninsula
south of latitude 15S.
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Queensland palms are as a whole poorly represented in
herbaria and the recent census of the Queensland flora listed
484 specimens collected in Queensland for 50 species, with
some species having few (less than five) or no herbarium
samples (Henderson 1994). The paucity of herbarium specimens
for
Corypha utan
is understandable as the palm is
flrstly easily recognised (thus negating the need to collect
for identification), and secondly the collection of good
representative material is daunting to say the least because
of the bulk, height and unpleasant spininess of the species.
Brass (1953) noted "Of special botanical interest was a stand
of great fan-leaved "cabbage palms", Corypha elata
,
on a dry creek about a mile south of the Kennedy River.
About 60 or 70 feet tall and with massive trunks, they grew on
yellowish, sun-baked, clayey soil in a strip of open,
monsoon-type of vegetation characterized by deciduous
Terminalia
trees".
Further herbarium documentation of the distribution of
Corypha
on Cape York Peninsula would be appreciated,
particularly with respect to the putative occurrences near
Weipa and on the Dulhunty River (Tucker 1988). While
preparation of good herbarium material of this palm is
difficult, a piece of pressed and folded frond together with
some photographs would be sufficient to document further
localities. Potential collectors should contact the
Queensland Herbarium for further advice on specimen
preparation.
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Figure 3. C. utan in habitat, Coleman River, Cape York.
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Figure 4. C. utan
in habitat, Mitchell River.
| References:
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Brass, L.J. (1953) Results of the Archbold
Expeditions. No. 68. Summary of the 1948 Cape York
(Australia) expedition. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 102:
139-205.
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Brock, J. (1988) Top End Native Plants.
J. Brock, Darwin.
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Henderson, R.J.F. (ed.) (1994) Queensland Vascular Plants:
Names and Distribution. Queensland Department of Environment
& Heritage, Brisbane.
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Ewart, A.J., White, J., Rees, B. & Wood,
B. (1912) Contributions to the Flora of Australia, No.
18. Proc.Roy.Soc. Victoria 24 (n.s.):255-269.
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Jones, D.L. (1984) Palms in Australia. Reed Books, Chatswood
(Sydney).
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Jones, D.L. (1995) Palms Throughout the World. Reed Books,
Chatswood (Sydney).
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Tucker, R. (1988) Palms of Subequatorial Queensland.
The Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia, Milton (Brisbane).
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White, A. (1988) Palms of the Northern Territory and their distribution.
Palms & Cycads No. 20: 1-42.
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Wightman, G.M. & Smith, N.M. (1989) Ethnobotany, vegetation
and floristics of Milingimbi, Northern Australia. Northern
Territory Bot. Bull. No. 6. Conservation Commission of
the Northern Territory, Darwin.
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| | Contributed by:
| Paul J. Forster, Queensland Herbarium
(Text from Palms & Cycads, No. 50 Jan-Mar 1996).
| | Greg Alexander (Figure 1,2,3&4)
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