''Carpentaria acuminata'' (carpentaria palm), the sole species in the genus ''Carpentaria'', is a palm native to tropical coastal regions in the north of

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a slender palm, growing to tall in the garden situation, with a trunk diameter. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are pinnate, long. However, in its natural rainforest location such as at Fogg Dam Monsoon Forest east of Darwin, specimens often exceed in height. It is a popular

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

in northern Australia, valued for its rapid growth and very elegant foliage. In recent years, particularly in the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin, the maturation of gardens after their destruction during Cyclone Tracy in 1974, has resulted in many thousands of specimens of these local palms reaching maturity and fruiting. This has led to many carpentaria palms being removed because of the high volumes of fruits they produce. The ripening fruits attract fruit bats and

Torres Strait pigeon The Torresian imperial pigeon (''Ducula spilorrhoa''), also known as the nutmeg pigeon, white nutmeg pigeon, Australian pied imperial pigeon or Torres Strait pigeon (Meriam Mir: deumer), is a relatively large, Piebald, pied species of pigeon. I ...

s which can create a mess in smaller suburban gardens. It is however, a beautiful and very fast growing specimen tree in the right location. Note that ''Carpentaria'' should not be confused with the similarly spelled ''

Carpenteria ''Carpenteria'' , the tree anemone or bush anemone, is a genus of flowering plants in the hydrangea family Hydrangeaceae. It is closely related to the similar genus ''Philadelphus'' and is monotypic, being represented by the single species ''C ...

'', a genus of

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s in the family Hydrangeaceae native to California.

Gallery

File:Carpentaria acuminata MtCootTha 2015 12 31a.jpg, ''Carpentaria acuminata'' at Mount Coot-Tha, Brisbane File:Carpentaria acuminata MtCootTha 2015 12 31b.jpg, ''Carpentaria acuminata'' at Mount Coot-Tha, Brisbane File:Carpentaria acuminata at QEII Law Courts Brisbane.jpg, ''Carpentaria acuminata'' at QEII Law Courts Brisbane File:Carpentaria-acuminata 1.jpg, Infrutescence of ''Carpentaria acuminata'' on the Reunion Island

References

External links

* Monotypic Arecaceae genera Ptychospermatinae Endemic flora of Australia Taxa named by Odoardo Beccari {{Areceae-stub