Leucothrinax

Leucothrinax morrisii is known as the "Key thatch palm" or the "brittle thatch palm" in the United States. In Anguilla it is called the "broom palm" or "buffalo-top", in The Bahamas, miraguano in Cuba and palma de escoba in Puerto Rico. Other common names include "small-fruited thatch palm", yaray, pandereta, palma de petate, palma de cogollo, guano de sierra, and palmita. ==Description==

Leucothrinax morrisii is a palmate-leaved palm with solitary brown or grey stems Leaves are pale blue-green or yellow-green, whitish on the undersides. Petioles are long with split petioles. The leaflets are long and wide. The inflorescences extend beyond the leaves and are long. The fruit are white, and turn yellow as they mature. ==Distribution==

Leucothrinax morrisii is native to the Florida mainland and Keys, the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico, Saint Barthélemy, both the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is found in dry, deciduous forests and scrub and coastal areas. In the Florida Keys it grows at the edge of hardwood hammocks and in pinelands, while in Puerto Rico, it is found on cliffs and on limestone and ultramafic ridges. It can tolerate drought, and frequent salt spray. ==Taxonomy==

}} Leucothrinax is a monotypic genus—it includes only one species, L. morrisii. The species was originally described by German botanist Hermann Wendland, who placed it in the genus Thrinax. In the first edition of Genera Palmarum (1987), Natalie Uhl and John Dransfield placed the genus Thrinax in the subfamily Coryphoideae, the tribe Corypheae and the subtribe Thrinacinae{{cite book ==Uses==

Stems of the plant are used for poles and the leaves are used for thatch and weaving. ==References==