◆◇院區植物專欄介紹◇◆

  大王椰子與亞歷山大椰子

  Royal Palm and Alexandra Palm

    Discovering our campus plants

    劉翠雅，趙淑妙Tsui-Ya Liu, Shu-Miaw Chaw
    植物研究所標本館Herbarium, Institute of Botany

      本專欄曾介紹過的植物都是裸子及雙子葉植物，這一次介紹的單
    子葉植物，它們有下列幾項特徵與雙子葉植物區別（括號內）：主
    要為草本（木本和草本皆有），胚具一片子葉（二片子葉）；莖不
    具髓心，皮層及年輪（通常有髓心，皮層及年輪）；葉片的脈大多
    平行，葉基常有葉鞘，葉柄很少發育良好（通常為網狀脈，無葉鞘，
    葉柄發育良好）；花的各部位大多是3的倍數（多為4或5的倍數）；
    花粉單溝或單溝衍生型（通常三溝或三溝衍生型）。常見的蘭花、
    百合、鳶尾、椰子、玉米、稻麥、香蕉、薑、山藥等都是單子葉植
    物。

      Previously we introduced in this column a number of gymnosperms
    and dicotyledons, in this issue we will bring you two monocotyledons.
    The major traits that distinguish monocotyledons from the
    dicotyledons (in brackets) are their mainly herbaceous habits
    (vs. woody and herbaceous) and the stem without pith, cortex
    and annual ring (vs. with pith, cortex and annual ring);
    embryos with one cotyledon (vs. two cotyledons); leaves often
    sheathed at the base (vs. seldom sheathed at the base), their
    petioles seldom developed (usually well developed) and leaf
    veins usually parallel (vs. usually reticulate); petals and
    other floral structures in multiples of three (usually in sets
    of four or five); and pollen grains usually monocolpate or
    monocolpate-derived (usually tricolpate or tricolpate derived).
    Orchid, lily, iris, coconut, corn, rice, wheat, banana, ginger,
    onion, etc. are common monocotyledonous plants.

      棕梠科植物是單子葉植物中的第四大科 (蘭科，禾本科，百合科)，
    主要分布於熱帶，有些在亞熱帶，極少數在溫帶地區，全球約有212屬
    3000種。棕梠科植物莖不分枝或偶而兩叉分枝；葉大型，螺旋狀排列，
    葉柄基部鞘狀；花小型，花瓣、花萼各3枚，雄蕊為3的倍數；漿果或
    核果。椰子、椰棗、西谷米是有些出產國的重要經濟來源。西谷米主
    要是從Metroxylon屬的髓質萃取的碳水化合物。此外，棕梠科植物的
    葉或葉鞘也能提供多類有用的纖維（如：孔雀椰子、椰殼、棕梠）做
    繩子、草蓆、籃子、掃把頭等；還有黃藤的莖常被用來編藤器，水藤
    屬的莖用來做拐杖。台灣原產棕梠科植物5屬7種，並引進栽培許多農
    作物（如：檳榔、椰子、油椰子）及有園藝觀賞價值的種類（如︰海
    棗、智利酒椰子、蒲葵、大王椰子、棕梠等），後者多有細長、高挑
    或特殊形狀的樹幹和莖頂有密集優美的葉形。

      Arecaceae (Palmae or palm family) is one of typical families
    in tropics. Among the monocotyledons only the Orchidaceae,
    Gramineae and Liliaceae have more species than palm family.
    There are about 212 genera and 3000 species of this family
    in the world. Coconut, date and sago are central to the economy
    of many producing countries.  A major source of carbohydrate
    for many tropical people is sago, which is made from the pith
    of the sago palm (Meteroxylon). Apart from their notable
    importance as a source of food, the palms produce a variety
    of fibers, including coir (which comes form the husk of coconut),
    raffia fiber (from the stripped young leaves of the genus Raffia)
    and kitul fiber (from the leaf sheaths of Caryota urens) for ropes
    and broom heads. In addition, the much-used rattan cane, mainly
    from the stems of Calamus species, is also invaluable.

      Taiwan has about 5 genera and 7 species and many introduced
    crops (e.g. betel nut, coconut, and oil palm) and ornamentals
    (Livistonia, coquito palm, Cuban royal palm, Chinese windmill
    palm).  Stems of palms are unbranched or dichotomously branched.
    Leaves are big, with basal sheath and arranged spirally.  Flowers
    are small; each flower has 3 petals, 3 sepals and stamens, tri-merous.
    Fruit is a berry or drupe.  Betel nut, coconut, fan palm and rattan
    belong to this family.

    大王椰子 Royal palm, Cuban royal palm, Bottle Palm Roystonea
             regia O. F. Cook
    棕梠科Arecaceae (Palmae) or palm family
    原產地：古巴。
    分布：舊大門至活動中心路旁，史語所、分生所門口。
    形態：常綠喬木，單幹直立，莖可達20公尺高。羽狀複葉；肉穗花序
          腋生，花乳白色；漿果。
    附註：本屬植物約17種，分布於佛羅里達州，加勒比海地區及南美東
          北部。
    Distribution: Cuba.
    Location: On both sides of the road between old entrance and
              Activities Center, in the front yards of Institute
              of Molecular Biology and Institute of History and
              Philology.
    Characteristics: Evergreen, erect, unbranched tree, up to 20 m
              high.  Leaves compound; spadix axillary,
              flowers milky white; fruit a drupe.
    Remark: This genus has about 17 species, distributed in Florida,
            West Indies, and NE of S America.

    亞歷山大椰子Alexandra palm
    Archontophoenix alexandrae H. Wendl. & Drude
    棕梠科Arecaceae (Palmae) or palm family
    大王椰子的樹幹基部較瘦，中央較粗；亞歷山大椰子的樹幹則是由下
    往上愈來愈細，葉子脫落後的環形葉痕較前者清楚。
    原產地：歐洲。
    分布：台史所門口。
    形態：常綠喬木，單幹直立，莖可達25公尺高。羽狀複葉；肉穗花序
          腋生，花乳白色；漿果，成熟紅色。
    附註：本屬植物約3種，分布於澳洲東部。
    The trunk of royal palm is thinner at base and swollen in the
        middle, whereas the trunk of Alexandra palm is notably swollen
        at base and has distinct leaf scars (ringed).
    Distribution: Europe.
    Location: In the front of Institute of Taiwan History.
    Characteristics: Evergreen, erect, unbranched tree, up to 25 m
         high.  Leaves compound; spadix axillary,
         flowers milky white; fruit a drupe, red when ripe.
    Remark: This genus has about 3 species, distributed throughout
            E Australia.

    致謝：我們感謝史哈達先生訂正英文初稿。
    Acknowledgement: We would like to thank Mr. Siddhu Siddharthan
           for improvement of our English draft.


    大王椰子Royal palm           大王椰子樹幹基部較瘦
                                 Royal palm, the trunk is thinnwr at base

    亞歷山大椰子 Alexandra palm  酒瓶椰子 Bottle palm