Kentiopsis magnifica

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Figure 1. K. magnifica new leaf.

Conservation Status:

Vulnerable

Synonymy:

Mackeea magnifica

Distribution & Habitat:

A small area in north-east end of New Caledonia, at elevations of 300-600m.

Description:

A large emergant tree palm to about 25m, very similar in appearance to Archontophoenix alexandrae. The new leaves on young plants are a very deep red colour.

General:

One very noticeable feature of this palm is that it is distichous when young, but grows out of it as it ages. The only other palms which have this habit are the completely unrelated Psuedophoenix.

Culture:

Moist, well drained position. It likes light shade as a youngster, but likes full sun as it gets larger. It is a very slow grower, taking around 15 years to trunk, then growing at about 1 m per decade after that.

Figure 2. K. magnifica trunk detail.

Figure 3. K. magnifica and the distichous leaf arrangement.

Figure 4. K. magnifica

Contributed by:

Rolf Kyburz, (Figure 1&3)
Bo-Göran, Lundkvist Palm Garden (Figure 2)
Mike Gray (Figure 4)

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, eMonocot, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk