Aiphanes horrida

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Figure 1. Young A. horrida showing ruffled leaves.

Synonyms:

A. aculeata, A. caryotifolia, plus many more.

Common Names:

Coyure Palm,
Ruffle Palm,
Aculeata palm

Distribution & Habitat:

South American rainforest.

Description:

A single trunked palm which is covered in long black spines, which grows to about 10 m. It has a very attractive crown of light green, broad ruffled, spiny leaflets, (similar to Caryota, hence the old name), on pale spiny stalks. The fruits are bright red.

General:

Despite its spininess (or perhaps because of it), this palm is very popular with palm collectors. As mentioned the leaves form a very attractive crown, and the spines add a considerable degree of interest.

Culture:

This is an easy, quick growing plant, liking the standard moist, but well drained soil, and quite a high degree of light (young plants like a bit of shade, but older specimens can take full sun). Its seed germinates easily in 1 - 2 months.

Figure 2. A. horrida showing the bright red fruit.

Figure 3. A. horrida

Contributed by:

Tony Huntington (Figure 1).
Ian Edwards (Figure 2).
Ryan Gallivan (Figure 3)

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, eMonocot, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk