Cyphosperma balansae

Habitat:

Wet rainforest, central New Caledonia.

Description:

A medium/tall emergant feather palm, with a dark (green to black) trunk, to about 15 metres, with a prominant rings (often whitish), It has many erect/ascending leaves, and numerous long (2-3 m) arching inflorescenses, which give it a very striking appearance.

Culture:

Apparently an easy plant to grow, with seeds germinating readily, however it is very rarely seen in cultivation.

Figure 1. C. balansae in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.

Figure 2. Close-up of the inflorescence.

Contributed by:

Ian Edwards (Figures 1&2)

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, eMonocot, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk