Platanus kerrii (Kerr's plane) is a species of Platanus native to Laos and Vietnam in Southeast Asia.

Platanus kerrii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Platanaceae
Genus: Platanus
Species:
P. kerrii
Binomial name
Platanus kerrii

Taxonomy

edit

It is placed in its own subgenus Casteneophyllum, and it has been proposed that this species should be separated out into its own genus.[2] The plant is named after Arthur Kerr, who collected the type specimen in Laos in 1932.[3]

Description

edit

Platanus kerrii is native to Laos and Vietnam, where it is called "ma nang" or "chò nước" in Vietnamese.[1] It differs from other species in the genus in being a tropical plant, evergreen, having unlobed leaves, and in the leaf stem not enclosing the axillary bud at its base. The bark flakes off as with other species, and the trunk of a mature tree appears similar to that of the other species. The leaves are elliptical to lanceolate. The fruits are borne in globose heads, each of which is sessile on a long peduncle. There are up to 12 heads on a peduncle.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1998). "Platanus kerrii". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1998. IUCN: e.T32830A9733710. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T32830A9733710.en. Retrieved 9 January 2018. Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1c v2.3)
  2. ^ a b E. A. Wheeler (1995), "Wood of Platanus kerrii", IAWA Journal, 16 (2): 127–132, doi:10.1163/22941932-90001399
  3. ^ Harvard University Herbarium Specimen Index