Ptychosperma ambiguum

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Habitat:

Limestone hills in the rainforests of West Irian, New Guinea.

Description:

A solitary palm to 5m tall, although the trunk rarely gets thicker than 25 mm. It has leaves to 1.25m long, with the narrow leaflets clustered along the stem. It has a very attractive infructescence, featuring black fruit with a bright red rachillae and cupules.

General:

Not very common, although it does sound as though it would be quite an attractive, small, understory palm.

Culture:

Coming from a limestone area, it would probably like a soil with a high pH, and the usual moist but well drained potting mix/soil. Being so short, it is doubtfull that it's an emergant palm, so would probably appreciate a shady, warm, sheltered position.

Reference:

Palms Throughout the World, David Jones.

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk