Recent botanical research has reassigned already known palm species to the genus Phoenix and a new species was discovered in India. These findings are culled from a reading of Hendrik van Rheede's Hortus Malabaricus, dating from the 17th century, The study resolves a long-standing misconception about palms which prevail extensively in the Indian subcontinent and its occluding areas.
Rediscovery of Katou Indel Palma Botanical Revision of South Asia Phoenix Species
* Historical Context: The Katou-Indel Palm in Hortus Malabaricus *
Meanwhile, the Katou-Indel palm, whose fruits are shown, is one of the earliest European records of the rich flora of Malabar, documented in the 17th-century botanical masterpiece Hortus Malabaricus. Written under the aegis of the Netherland’s commander Hendrik van Rheede, and with valuable inputs from the Ezhava physician Itty Achudan, the tome catalogued the medicinal and ecological uses of the coastal plants in Kerala in detail. The palm was finally described as Phoenix sylvestris by the great botanist, William Roxburgh in the 19th century.
For years Phoenix sylvestris – the wild date palm, or the silver date palm – was thought to include several regional forms. But now new scientific research has turned our concept of this party-loving group upside down, reclassifying them and finding a new species.
Modern Scientific Reassessment
A collaborative research led by scientists of the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) had reworked the nomenclature of Katou-Indel and other related palms. In a new study published in the journal Phytotaxa, they conclusively determined that the palms growing in Kerala and Sri Lanka are Phoenix sylvestris. In addition, three earlier described species (P. pusilla, P. farinifera, and P. zeylanica) were made synonyms of P. sylvestris, bringing consolidation of the taxonomic name.
A New Species was Discovered Phoenix roxburghii
It also found a unique palm along the east coast of India, Bangladesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Pakistan. This species was named in honor of William Roxburgh, and has no fewer than 23 distinct qualities: Phoenix roxburghii
- Taller growth * ( 12–16 m more than *P. sylvestris 6–10 m).
- Single trunk * (not forming clumping forms as found in certain populations in *P. sylvestris).
- Larger leaves and leaflets **.
- Staminate flowers with a musty odor ** (an important diagnostic character).
- Bigger obovoid orange-yellow fruits **.
The morphological features and genetic studies combined contra-indicate P. roxburghii to be an independent species, thereby, clearing the confusion which was appreciated by the 19th century botanist William Griffith.
Scientific and Conservation Significance
This study also demonstrates the need to complement historical botanical records with contemporary taxonomic approaches. In the process, they have rectified longstanding misidentifications and begun to fill in gaps in our understanding of the distribution of palms in South Asia, by reconsidering van Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus and subsequent colonial representations.
Hortus Malabaricus Botanical Garden: A Quest to protect Legacy
A living memorial to the pioneering work of van Rheede, in Thrissur, Kerala, India, is the Hortus Malabaricus Botanical Garden. The garden helps preserve rare and endemic species, and is educating visitors about the botanical heritage of the region. The new findings from Katou- Indel * and Phoenix roxburghii* prove the value of the ancient literature for biodiversity study in the current