''Hedyscepe canterburyana'', the big mountain palm or umbrella palm, is the sole species in the genus ''Hedyscepe'' of the family

Arecaceae The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

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 ...

and is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. It is a solitary palm with a distinct crownshaft, and bears unisexual

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s of both sexes. With the ''

Rhopalostylis ''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. Distribution ''R ...

'' palms of

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

it forms the botanic subtribe

Rhopalostylidinae Rhopalostylidinae is a botanical subtribe consisting of two genera of palms from Australia and New Zealand, ''Hedyscepe'' and '' Rhopalostylis''. These two genera were formerly included in Archontophoenicinae, to which they are morphologically s ...

. If differs from ''Rhopalostylis'' in minor floral details including having more than six stamens, and in being protandrous rather than

protogynous Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and ...

. The two genera were formerly included in

Archontophoenicinae Archontophoenicinae is a botanical subtribe consisting of four genera of palms, namely ''Archontophoenix'' from Queensland and New South Wales and ''Actinokentia'', ''Chambeyronia'' and '' Kentiopsis'' from New Caledonia. Phylogenetic relationshi ...

until a recent revision (Dransfield, Uhl et al., 2005). In some (but not all) molecular phylogenetic analyses, ''Hedyscepe'' was found to be nested in the

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

endemic ''Basselinia''.

Description

''Hedyscepe canterburyana'' is a slow-growing palm up to tall which grows on mountain forests, cliffs, and exposed ridges overlooking the sea, at about of altitude. It has a slender, close-ringed trunk, a prominent silvery

crownshaft An elongated circumferential leaf base formation present on some species of palm is called a crownshaft. The leaf bases of some pinnate leaved palms (most notable being ''Roystonea regia'' or the royal palm but also including the genera ''Areca' ...

and a compact crown of dense, dark green, stiffly arching recurved fronds somewhat reminiscent of those of ''

Howea belmoreana ''Howea belmoreana'', the curly palm, kentia palm, or Belmore sentry palm, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Arecaceae, endemic species, endemic to Lord Howe Island, Australia. It and ''Howea forsteriana'' probably ...

''. The egg-shaped

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

are deep red when ripe, and about 4 cm long. They appear in densely bunched fruiting spikes from below the crownshaft. Each fruit contains a single seed.

Cultivation

Lord Howe Island has a subtropical climate. Summers are mild to warm with regular rain, and winters are wetter and somewhat cooler. Average maximum temperatures range between in winter and in the summer. In winter, average minimum temperatures range between , and in summer. Humidity averages in the 60 to 70 per cent range all year round.Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Climate of Lord Howe Island
. Accessed 24 July 2008. With its arching fronds, ''H. canterburyana'' is a very attractive palm which is becoming increasingly popular among garden enthusiasts in cool subtropical and warm temperate climates. It is difficult to grow in the tropics or where nights are never cool, but does well in climates like

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, and can tolerate the occasional light frost once established. It needs a rich organic soil, and shelter from sun for at least the first five years. It also does well in containers or as indoor plants where light is good. Single plants are capable of producing fertile

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

. Fresh seed is slow and erratic in germination, with seedlings appearing from five to 18 months after they are sown. Fruit take up to four years to ripen and it is not easy to tell when the seeds are ripe.

Sources

*Dransfield, John, Natalie W Uhl, Conny B Asmussen, William J Baker, Madeline M Harley, and Carl E Lewis 2005. 'A new phylogenetic classification of the palm family, Arecaceae'. ''Kew Bulletin'', Vol. 60 (2005). * Jones, David L. 1995. ''Palms Throughout the World''. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. * Jones, David L. 1996. ''Palms in Australia''. Reed Books, Melbourne. * Krempin, Jack 1990. ''Palms & Cycads Around The World''. Herron Books, Fortitude Valley, Queensland. *Uhl, Natalie W. and Dransfield, John 1987. ''Genera Palmarum - A classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore''. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas. / .

Notes

External links

*
PACSOA
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2706347, from2=Q15501184 Rhopalostylidinae Palms of Australia Vulnerable flora of Australia Endemic flora of Lord Howe Island Monotypic Arecaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Carl Georg Oscar Drude