Rhopaloblaste ledermanniana
Becc.
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Bill Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bill Baker
iNaturalist· cc-by-nc
(c) Hakim, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Description
A tall single stemmed palm. It grows 15 m tall. The crown has about 11 leaves. The trunk is 8-10 cm across. It has grooves along it. The leaf scars are prominent. The leaf sheath is 60-70 cm long. The leaf stalk is 15-20 cm long and the rachis 2-4 m long. There are 60-90 leaflets on each side. These are 3-4 cm apart and in one plane. The middle leaflets are 65-75 cm long by 2.5 cm wide. They taper at the tip and divided into two. The flowering stalk is 65-95 cm long and spreads about 1.5 m wide. It is branched. The fruit are about 2 cm long and 1 cm wide. They are oval. They are yellowish green when young and become orange to red when ripe. There is one seed about 1 cm long.
Edible Uses
The shoots are eaten as palm heart or cabbage, traditionally harvested by the Mianmin people of Papua New Guinea.
Distribution
A tropical plant. It grows in primary rainforest between 50 and 900 m above sea level.
Where It Grows
Asia, Indonesia, Pacific, Papua, Papua New Guinea, PNG, SE Asia,
Other Information
The shoots are eaten by the Mianmin in PNG.
Synonyms
References (3)
- Baker, W.J. and Dransfield, J., 2006, Field Guide to Palms of New Guinea. Kew p 100
- e-monoco.org
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
