''Roystonea violacea'' is a species of

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

which 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 else ...

to the

Maisí Maisí is a municipality and town in the Guantánamo Province of Cuba. Its administrative seat is located in the town of La Máquina. Geography The easternmost point of Cuba, ''Punta Maisí'' (called "Baitiquiri" by the Taino in pre-colonial tim ...

region of

Guantánamo Province Guantánamo is the easternmost province of Cuba. Its capital is also called Guantánamo. Other towns include Baracoa. The province has the only land border of the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay. Overview Guantánamo's architecture and cultu ...

in eastern

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Description

''Roystonea violacea'' is a large palm which reaches heights of . Stems are mauve-brown to mauve-grey and are about in diameter. The upper portion of the stem is encircled by leaf sheaths, forming a green portion known as the

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' ...

which is normally long. Individuals have about 15 leaves with petioles and

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

es; the leaves hang well horizontal. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s bear violet male and female flowers. Fruit are long and wide, and are brown to black when ripe.

References

Trees of Cuba violacea Endangered plants {{palm-stub