Cape york palm

Description

Tall, moderate palm to 20 m or more in height; stem 20-30 cm in diameter; leaf sheath 75-150 cm long, green, tinged with lilac, glabrous to finely light-brown tomentose near the tip, petiole3 5-60 cm long, blade 220-420 cm long, petiole and rachis finely white-woolly and brown-lepidote above and below, pinnae pendulous, 43-77 on each side, 97-127 cm long, 5.5 cm wide with the apex deeply bifid (or hooded in life), upper surface glabrous, lower surface minutely brown-dotted and with large, whitish, basifixed ramenta along the lower third of the midrib. Inflorescence branching to 2-3 orders, 70-125 cm long, the upper peduncular and rameal bracts rudimentary, triangular to 6 mm long or represented only by horizontal scars; rachillae straight or sometimes somewhat flexuous, to 62 cm long, 2-3 mm thick, bearing up to 280 triads Staminate flowers cream-colored, soapy scented, 6-7 mm long, stamens 6, shorter than the petals, pistillate flowers 1.5 mm high, flushed with pink; fruit 7-9 X 4.5-5 mm, blue-gray with whitish stripes over prominent fibrous ribs; endosperm homogeneous. (Frederick B. Essig 1973) Editing by edric.