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A palm species from New Zealand, said to tolerate low temperatures and shady moist conditions. As a young plant it has been stylish and quite unlike the gawky seedlings
of most palm species. It survived for a few years in the greenhouse but died in the winter of 2009-10. The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network says: "Endemic. North Island, South Island from Marlborough Sounds and Nelson south to Okarito in the west and Banks Peninsula in the east. Also on Chatham and Pitt Islands. However Chatham Islands plants have a distinct juvenile form, larger fruits, and thicker indumentum on the fronds. Palm to 15m tall with a ringed trunk and 3 m long erect leaves inhabiting lowland forest south to Okarito and Banks Peninsula and the Chatham Islands. Leaves with multiple narrow leaflets to 1 m long closely-spaced along central stem. Flowers pinkish, in multiple spikes at the top of trunk. Fruit red. Palmpedia says: "The Nikau palm shows considerable variation in the wild. Plants from the South Island and the offshore islands of the North Island have larger, more gracefully arching fronds and are popular in cultivation. The Chatham Islands form is particularly different, having a distinct juvenile form and larger fruits, and a thicker covering of fine hairs on the fronds. More research is needed into its precise relationship with the mainland form." |
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| 13th October 2006 | ||
