''Licuala ramsayi'' is a species of
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
in 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 ...
; its common name is the Queensland or Australian fan palm.
[Cooper, Wendy. "Australian Rainforest Fruits" (2013): 84.] Two varieties are recognised: ''Licuala ramsayi'' var. ''ramsayi'',
and ''Licuala ramsayi'' var. ''tuckeri''.
Description
''L. ramsayi'' is a distinctive palm with a single trunk to in height and diameter.
It has large, pleated, circular leaves up to in diameter. Petioles have formidable spines to long. The fruits are a red
drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
around diameter containing a single seed.
Distribution and habitat
The species grows in swamps, along riverbanks, and in rainforests in Australia. In favourable conditions it may dominate small areas, forming a "fan palm forest".
''L. ramsayi'' var. ''tuckeri'' is found in
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...
southwards to about
Cooktown
Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...
,
while ''L. ramsayi'' var. ''ramsayi'' occurs from Cooktown to the
Paluma Range north of
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
.
One of the most cold-tolerant
Licuala
''Licuala'' is a genus of palms, in the tribe Trachycarpeae, commonly found in tropical forests of southern China, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, New Guinea and the western Pacific Ocean islands.
Description and uses
''Licuala'' spp. are fan ...
species and the only one native to Australia.
Ecology
Trees provided an edible cabbage to Aboriginals, as well as thatch, food wrapping, and cigarette papers (from young leaves)
Fruits are eaten by
cassowaries
Cassowaries ( tpi, muruk, id, kasuari) are flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'' in the order Casuariiformes. They are classified as ratites (flightless birds without a keel (bird anatomy), keel on their sternum bones) and are native t ...
.
Gallery
Image:Ramsayi1.jpg, Licuala Walking Track near Wongaling Beach
Wongaling Beach is a tropical beachside coastal town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Wongaling Beach had a population of 1,245 people.
Geography
The locality takes its name from th ...
, Queensland
Image:Ramsayi2.jpg,
Image:Licuala ramsayi inflorescence SF21098.jpg, The spidery inflorescence
Image:Licuala ramsayi (tanetahi) 004.jpg, Dominating a section of rainforest
References
External links
*
*
Palm and Cycad Society of Australia
ramsayi
Trees of Australia
Flora of Queensland
Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller
{{Arecaceae-stub