Research directed by C. Daehler (UH Botany) with funding from the Kaulunani Urban Forestry Program and US Forest Service

Information on Risk Assessments
Original risk assessment

Latania loddigesii Mart.; blue Latan palm, latanier

Answer

1.01

Is the species highly domesticated?

y=-3, n=0

n

1.02

Has the species become naturalized where grown?

y=-1, n=-1

n

1.03

Does the species have weedy races?

y=-1, n=-1

n

2.01

Species suited to tropical or subtropical climate(s) (0-low; 1-intermediate; 2-high) – If island is primarily wet habitat, then substitute “wet tropical” for “tropical or subtropical”

See Append 2

2

2.02

Quality of climate match data (0-low; 1-intermediate; 2-high) see appendix 2

2

2.03

Broad climate suitability (environmental versatility)

y=1, n=0

n

2.04

Native or naturalized in regions with tropical or subtropical climates

y=1, n=0

y

2.05

Does the species have a history of repeated introductions outside its natural range? y=-2

?=-1, n=0

y

3.01

Naturalized beyond native range y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2), n= question 2.05

n

3.02

Garden/amenity/disturbance weed y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2)

n=0

n

3.03

Agricultural/forestry/horticultural weed y = 2*multiplier (see Append 2)

n=0

n

3.04

Environmental weed y = 2*multiplier (see Append 2)

n=0

n

3.05

Congeneric weed y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2)

n=0

n

4.01

Produces spines, thorns or burrs

y=1, n=0

y

4.02

Allelopathic

y=1, n=0

n

4.03

Parasitic

y=1, n=0

n

4.04

Unpalatable to grazing animals

y=1, n=-1

n

4.05

Toxic to animals

y=1, n=0

n

4.06

Host for recognized pests and pathogens

y=1, n=0

y

4.07

Causes allergies or is otherwise toxic to humans

y=1, n=0

n

4.08

Creates a fire hazard in natural ecosystems

y=1, n=0

4.09

Is a shade tolerant plant at some stage of its life cycle

y=1, n=0

4.1

Tolerates a wide range of soil conditions (or limestone conditions if not a volcanic island)

y=1, n=0

y

4.11

Climbing or smothering growth habit

y=1, n=0

n

4.12

Forms dense thickets

y=1, n=0

n

5.01

Aquatic

y=5, n=0

n

5.02

Grass

y=1, n=0

n

5.03

Nitrogen fixing woody plant

y=1, n=0

n

5.04

Geophyte (herbaceous with underground storage organs -- bulbs, corms, or tubers)

y=1, n=0

n

6.01

Evidence of substantial reproductive failure in native habitat

y=1, n=0

n

6.02

Produces viable seed.

y=1, n=-1

y

6.03

Hybridizes naturally

y=1, n=-1

6.04

Self-compatible or apomictic

y=1, n=-1

n

6.05

Requires specialist pollinators

y=-1, n=0

n

6.06

Reproduction by vegetative fragmentation

y=1, n=-1

n

6.07

Minimum generative time (years) 1 year = 1, 2 or 3 years = 0, 4+ years = -1

See left

4

7.01

Propagules likely to be dispersed unintentionally (plants growing in heavily trafficked areas)

y=1, n=-1

n

7.02

Propagules dispersed intentionally by people

y=1, n=-1

y

7.03

Propagules likely to disperse as a produce contaminant

y=1, n=-1

n

7.04

Propagules adapted to wind dispersal

y=1, n=-1

n

7.05

Propagules water dispersed

y=1, n=-1

n

7.06

Propagules bird dispersed

y=1, n=-1

7.07

Propagules dispersed by other animals (externally)

y=1, n=-1

n

7.08

Propagules survive passage through the gut

y=1, n=-1

8.01

Prolific seed production (>1000/m2)

y=1, n=-1

n

8.02

Evidence that a persistent propagule bank is formed (>1 yr)

y=1, n=-1

n

8.03

Well controlled by herbicides

y=-1, n=1

8.04

Tolerates, or benefits from, mutilation, cultivation, or fire

y=1, n=-1

n

8.05

Effective natural enemies present locally (e.g. introduced biocontrol agents)

y=-1, n=1

Total score:

-8

Notes

Source

1.01

no evidence

1.02

no evidence

1.03

no evidence

2.01

(1) List of countries with natural populations
Africa: Mauritius
(2) Hardiness Range 10B to 11

(1) CAB International, (2000) Forestry Compendium Global Module. Wallingford, UK: CAB International.
(2) Horticopia A-Z.Horticopia, Inc., Purcellville, VA. ISBN 1-887215-07-7.

2.02

2.03

(1)Hardiness Range 10B to 11 (2)Habitat: Open forest (3)dry lowland areas of Mauritius (4) moderate salt-tolerance

(1)Horticopia A-Z.Horticopia, Inc., Purcellville, VA. ISBN 1-887215-07-7. (2)http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Latania/loddigesii.html (3)http://www.mauritian-wildlife.org/round.htm (4)http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ST350

2.04

(1) List of countries with natural populations
Africa: Mauritius
(2) Hardiness Range 10B to 11

(1) CAB International, (2000) Forestry Compendium Global Module. Wallingford, UK: CAB International.
(2) Horticopia A-Z.Horticopia, Inc., Purcellville, VA. ISBN 1-887215-07-7.

2.05

(1) "The species is widely cultivated as an ornamental."
(2) Hawaii, (3) Florida, (4) Germany

(1) Johnson, D. 1997. Latania loddigesii. In: IUCN 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.redlist.org>. Downloaded on 28 January 2004.
(2) Neal, M.C. (1965) In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice p. Bishop Museum Special Publication 50. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 924pp. p.101
(3) http://palms.ifas.ufl.edu/PDFs/Palm%20Fact%20Sheets/Blue%20Latan%20palm.pdf
(4) http://www.palmen-bolschetz.de/index.html?palmen_latania_loddigesii_(blaue_latanpalme).htm

3.01

no evidence

3.02

no evidence

3.03

no evidence

3.04

no evidence

3.05

no evidence

4.01

"The leaf stems bears a feltlike covering and are spiny-edged when young; The blades are cut to the middle into many narrow, pointed segments, which may be spiny-edged in young plants."

Neal, M.C. (1965) In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice p. Bishop Museum Special Publicatio 50. Bishop Museeum Press, Honolulu. 924pp. p.101

4.02

no evidence

4.03

no evidence

4.04

"Remaining wild populations are confined to offshore islands, in coastal savanna. Regeneration has been good since the eradication of goats and rabbits. " [implies damage from grazers]

Johnson, D. 1997. Latania loddigesii. In: IUCN 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.redlist.org>. Downloaded on 28 January 2004.

4.05

no evidence

4.06

(1) "Pests and Diseases: Moderately susceptible to lethal yellowing." [Lethal yellowing is a recognized disease attacking economically important species within palm family ] (2)Increasing numbers of palm species are suspected of being susceptible to a disease called lethal yellowing or lethal decline. Replacement of diseased or dead palms with other palm species will be necessary to maintain Florida's subtropical image. Palms recommended in this fact sheet are not presently known to be susceptible to lethal yellowing. Commonly grown palms that are susceptible include the common coconut palm, Christmas palm, windmill palm, hurricane palm, date palm, and fishtail palms.

(1)Horticopia A-Z.Horticopia, Inc., Purcellville, VA. ISBN 1-887215-07-7. (2)http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP009

4.07

no evidence

4.08

(1)"Highly flammable" (2)dry lowland areas [has potential but only if it grow in dense stands and could not find evidence of this]

(1)Horticopia A-Z.Horticopia, Inc., Purcellville, VA. ISBN 1-887215-07-7. (2)http://www.mauritian-wildlife.org/round.htm

4.09

(1)Exposure Partial shade or partial sun to full sun (2)Tolerates full sun from a very young age.Habitat: open forests (3)Light requirement: full sun, partial sun or partial shade. Preferring full sun but tolerant of partial shade

(1)Horticopia A-Z.Horticopia, Inc., Purcellville, VA. ISBN 1-887215-07-7. (2)http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Latania/loddigesii.html (3)http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ST350

4.1

Soil Condition Loamy, sandy, clay, acidic, neutral, slightly alkaline, tolerates salt, drought tolerant

Horticopia A-Z.Horticopia, Inc., Purcellville, VA. ISBN 1-887215-07-7.

4.11

single-trunked palm

http://palms.ifas.ufl.edu/PDFs/Palm%20Fact%20Sheets/Blue%20Latan%20palm.pdf

4.12

Probabaly not; a tall, single trunk palm

5.01

Habitat: Open forest

http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Latania/loddigesii.html

5.02

palm; Arecaceae

5.03

no evidence

5.04

palm

6.01

[An endangered species, but with a report of small population increase in native habitat]
(1) AB: A survey of the vegetation of Gunners' Quoin, an islet 8 km north of Mauritius, was carried out in September 1993. A total of 72 species of plants were recorded of which 24 are native plants. Since the last survey made in 1982, 14 additional species have colonized the island. The remnant populations of the palm Latania loddigesii , and Pandanus vandermeerschii were studied. While the Latania population has increased slightly since 1982, that of Pandanus has decreased by 16%. Introduced hares and rats are causing much harm to the island and are preventing the regeneration of native plants such as these in particular.
(2) Conservation status: Endangered; a few specimens survive on Round Island and perhaps Mauritius

(1) Dulloo, M. E. (1994) Botanical survey of Gunners' Quoin, Mauritius. Revue Agricole et Sucrière de l'Île Maurice, 1994, Vol.73, No.1/2, pp.27-36, 15 ref.
(2) http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/Species/latania_loddigesii.htm

6.02

"Propagation is by seed."

http://palms.ifas.ufl.edu/PDFs/Palm%20Fact%20Sheets/Blue%20Latan%20palm.pdf

6.03

no evidence

6.04

[dioecious] "Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees"

Neal, M.C. (1965) In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice p. Bishop Museum Special Publicatio 50. Bishop Museeum Press, Honolulu. 924pp. p.101

6.05

"Numerous of male flowers, each with 15-30 stamens, are borne singly in small depressions on the spike; female flowers are large and fewer." [no evidence of adaptation to specialist pollinators -typical insect pollinated Arecacaeae]

Neal, M.C. (1965) In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice p. Bishop Museum Special Publicatio 50. Bishop Museeum Press, Honolulu. 924pp. p.102

6.06

"Propagation is by seed."

http://palms.ifas.ufl.edu/PDFs/Palm%20Fact%20Sheets/Blue%20Latan%20palm.pdf

6.07

(1)Age of palm in the right side picture is 5 years - it appears to not have begun flowering. (2)Growth rate: slow [minimum estimate for a slow growing palm]

(1)http://www.plantapalm.com/centralfl/ObservationSpecies.asp?PalmID=276 (2)http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ST350

7.01

"The fruit green or yellow, three seeded, ovoid, 1.5 to 3 inches long." [Probably not, very large fruit.]

Neal, M.C. (1965) In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice p. Bishop Museum Special Publicatio 50. Bishop Museeum Press, Honolulu. 924pp. p.101

7.02

(1)The species is widely cultivated as an ornamental (2)"Availability: somewhat available, may have to go out of the region to find the tree"

(1)Johnson, D. 1997. Latania loddigesii. In: IUCN 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.redlist.org>. Downloaded on 28 January 2004. (2)http://palms.ifas.ufl.edu/PDFs/Palm%20Fact%20Sheets/Blue%20Latan%20palm.pdf

7.03

"The fruit green or yellow, three seeded, ovoid, 1.5 to 3 inches long." [Probably not, a rare plam with very large fruit.]

Neal, M.C. (1965) In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice p. Bishop Museum Special Publicatio 50. Bishop Museeum Press, Honolulu. 924pp. p.101

7.04

[Probably not, very large fruit.] "The fruit green or yellow, three seeded, ovoid, 1.5 to 3 inches long."

7.05

dry lowland areas of Mauritius

http://www.mauritian-wildlife.org/round.htm

7.06

"Fruit covering: fleshy; Fruit characteristics: does not attract wildlife;" [Although the fruit carp is fleshy, no evidence of used by birds; very large seed]

http://palms.ifas.ufl.edu/PDFs/Palm%20Fact%20Sheets/Blue%20Latan%20palm.pdf

7.07

"The fruit green or yellow, three seeded, ovoid, 1.5 to 3 inches long." [Probably not, very large fruit without known means of attachment.]

7.08

no evidence of ingestion, but if it were dispersed by a very large bird it might survive a bird's gut]

8.01

(1)"The fruit green or yellow, three seeded, ovoid, 1.5 to 3 inches long." [Probably not, very large fruit.] (2)Based on photo, a mature tree produces 3-4 fruit clusters of roughly 100 seeds each.

(1)Neal, M.C. (1965) In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice p. Bishop Museum Special Publicatio 50. Bishop Museeum Press, Honolulu. 924pp. p.101 (2)http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/Species/Pics/latania_loddigessii_fruit.JPG

8.02

"Seeds of some palms generally remain viable for only 2-3 weeks (e.g., Latan palms, Latania spp.), "

http://flrec.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/Palms/palmproduction/Palm_seed_germination/PALMSEED.htm

8.03

no evidence that it is being controlled

8.04

"palm, usually has one trunk" [single growing point at top makes lopping lethal to these palms]

Horticopia A-Z.Horticopia, Inc., Purcellville, VA. ISBN 1-887215-07-7.

8.05

"Remaining wild populations are confined to offshore islands, in coastal savanna. Regeneration has been good since the eradication of goats and rabbits. The species is widely cultivated as an ornamental." [Population is controlled by goats]