Norfolk Island palm

Description

Rhopalostylis baueri is a species of palm native to Norfolk Island (Australia) and to the Kermadec Islands (New Zealand). Norfolk Island is the type locality. The common names on Norfolk Island are 'Norfolk Island palm' or 'niau'. In New Zealand the name 'Kermadec nikau' is used to refer to the Kermadec Islands population. On Norfolk Island it now occupies a small range in the centre of the island near the national park, where the species is somewhat threatened by rats that eat the fruit and young seedlings. It is rare elsewhere on the island. In the Kermadec Islands part of its range it is not threatened, but it only occurs on Raoul Island. Following the successful eradication of rats on Raoul Island, the palm has greatly extended its range. On Norfolk Island, which is still infested with rodents, R. baueri is regenerating and is abundant in some localities. If rodents were eliminated from Norfolk, the palm would benefit greatly. Rhopalostylis baueri reaches 10 m or more in height. The pinnate leaves are 3 to 4 m long, on a stout, erect petiole (leafstem) approximately 20 cm long. The crownshaft is 50–60 cm long. The inflorescence is 30 50 cm long and has from 50 to 60 fairly stout branches. The fruits are green at first, turning a bright red when ripe, and are a favorite food of the endangered Norfolk Island parakeet. The growing tip of the palm was used by early settlers as a vegetable and is said to have tasted like a nut when raw and like an artichoke bottom when boiled. Rhopalostylis is a genus of two species of palms native to the South Pacific. Both are smooth-trunked, with regular ringed scars from fallen leaves. The leaves are 3–5 m in length, and the leaf bases encircle the trunk. Rhopalostylis baueri occurs on Norfolk Island and the Kermadec Islands northeast of New Zealand; the Kermadec Islands population, formerly separated as R. cheesemanii, was included in R. baueri in 2005 after comparison revealed no significant differences. R. sapida, known as the nikau palm, is the only palm native to mainland New Zealand, and is found in lowland forests in the North Island, in coastal areas of the South Island as far south as Banks Peninsula, and on the Chatham Islands at 44°S. R. sapida thus has the southernmost range of any palm genus.