Howea belmoreana

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Figure 1. H. belmoreana in habitat, Lord Howe Island.

Common Names:

Curly palm,
Sentry palm

Conservation Status:

Not threatened

Distribution & Habitat:

Mountainous forest on Lord Howe Island.

Description:

A medium sized solitary pinnate palm to about 10m tall, with evenly spaced, dark green, adaxially angled leaflets which give it an angular appearance. Quite similar in appearance to Howea forsteriana but hybridization is very exceptional although there are a few palms growing on Lord Howe Island which produce seed productive of both the Howeas.

Culture:

This is a very adaptable palm, and it will thrive in positions from very low light indoors thru to full sun. It prefers a temperate thru to sub-topical climate, not being at all happy in the tropics. And it likes the standard moist, but well drained soil. Its seeds take 2 years to fully ripen. It deteriorates more rapidly when grown as a pot plant and is more susceptible to mites than H. forsteriana is. It also grows comparatively slowly. For all these reasons, H. forsteriana is the commercially preferred plant.

Figure 2. H. belmoreana crown view.

Figure 3. H. belmoreana in picturesque habitat.

Contributed by:

John and Jean Price (Figure 1) (from Palms & Cycads No. 57, Oct-Dec 1997).
Jo Wilkins (Figure 2&3)

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, eMonocot, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk