Heterospathe delicatula

Description

Heterospathe delicatula is a species of flowering plant. This was first described by Harold Emery Moore. Heterospathe delicatula belongs to the genus Heterospathe, and family Arecaceae. Heterospathe is a monoecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family found in Oceania, where it is called sagisi palm. With 39 species, Heterospathe is named from a Greek combination of "various" and "spathe", which describes the two distinct bract types. They exhibit considerable variation in morphology and habit; the slender trunks may be solitary or sparsely to densely clustering, some are miniatures and perpetual undergrowth subjects while others contribute to the canopy top. The trunks are ringed by leaf scars and end in a poorly defined or absent crownshaft. The leaves are usually pinnate, rarely bifid, from small to large, and frequently red colored when new. The inflorescence is interfoliar but will hang pendent nearing antithesis. It may be branched from one to four orders with short white to yellow branches of spirally arranged, male and female flowers. Ellipsoidal to spherical, the fruit ripen to various shades of orange and red and contain a single seed. Heterospathe species are relatively widespread across the Pacific's western edges with several in New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, eastern Indonesia and Micronesia. Across this range they inhabit montane and lowland rain forest, in some cases receiving total shade or filtered light while others mature into full sun with age; H. delicatula and H. humilis are found at high elevations in New Guinea's mountains. Being rain forest dwellers they are typically found in humus-rich soil.