Ceroxylon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Arecaceae, native to the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, known as Andean wax palms.Govaerts, R. & Dransfield, J. (2005). World Checklist of Palms: 1-223. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The species are almost exclusively montane and include the tallest palm (and thus tallest monocotyledon), C. quindiuense, which reaches in height, and species growing at the highest altitude of the palm family (Arecaceae), at more than in elevation.
The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ( ("wax") and (, "wood").
Taxonomy Ceroxylon is most closely related to the genus Oraniopsis, which is restricted to northern Australia. The common ancestor of both genera likely dispersed across the Antarctic land bridge during the Late Eocene.
Description Ceroxylon palms develop single, smooth, wax-covered, often whitish cylindrical trunks encircled by ringed leafbase scars. Ceroxylon species are dioecious (the individual plant produces flowers of only one sex). Leaves are pinnate. Inflorescences emerge from among, and often project conspicuously beyond the leaves. Round fruits, up to one inch in diameter, are red or orange at maturity. Many Ceroxylon species are endangered by habitat destruction.
Two species of Andean wax palms, C. quindiuense and C. alpinum, provide nesting sites and food for a species of Colombian parrot now in danger of extinction, Ognorhynchus icterotis.
Uses In Colombia, Ceroxylon palms are frequently harvested for their wood. Ceroxylon palm leaves are also used in Palm Sunday ceremonies.
Cultivation Several Ceroxylon species, including C. quindiuense, C. alpinum, C. vogelianum, C. ventricosum, and C. parvifrons, are cultivated as ornamental trees outside their native range in cool, humid, mild climates with minimal frosts, such as parts of Australia, coastal California, Hawai'i, New Zealand, South Africa, and coastal Western Europe. The Jose Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden in Bogotá, Colombia, contains an extensive planting of Ceroxylon palms. Other public gardens where cultivated Ceroxylon spp. can be viewed include the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, the Huntington Botanical Gardens, in Pasadena (near Los Angeles), California, and the Oakland Palmetum at the Lakeside Garden Center in Oakland, California.
Species The genus contains the following species: Image Scientific name Distribution Ceroxylon alpinum Bonpl. ex DC. Colombia, Venezuela Ceroxylon amazonicum Galeano Ecuador Ceroxylon ceriferum (H.Karst.) Pittier Colombia, Venezuela Ceroxylon echinulatum Galeano Ecuador, Peru Ceroxylon parvifrons (Engel) H.Wendl. Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia Ceroxylon parvum Galeano Ecuador Ceroxylon peruvianum Galeano, Sanín & K.Mejia Peru Ceroxylon pityrophyllum (Mart.) Mart. ex H.Wendl. Peru, Bolivia Ceroxylon quindiuense (H.Karst.) H.Wendl. Colombia Ceroxylon sasaimae Galeano Antioquia, Cundinamarca Ceroxylon ventricosum Burret Colombia, Ecuador Ceroxylon vogelianum (Engel) H.Wendl. Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru
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