''Wodyetia bifurcata'', the foxtail palm, is a species of palm 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 ...

, native to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

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 the sole species in the genus ''Wodyetia''. The Palm and Cycads Societies of Australia (PACSOA) describes this palm as follows:

''"Very attractive palm with long (2-3m.) plumose leaves (hence the name 'Foxtail'), and up to 10m tall with a grey trunk. It produces large (about the size of a duck egg) orange fruit"''Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia webpage on Wodyetia bifurcata
Accessed 3 May 2008

Etymology

Most of the world was unaware of the existence of this 'spectacular' palm until 1978, when an Aboriginal man brought it to botanists and the world's attentionusbg.gov plant-collections
Accessed 10 JAN 2018 The Aboriginal name of that Aboriginal man has been recorded as being "Wodyeti", thus the genus name for this Australian endemic species ''Wodyetia''. The

specific Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the fina ...

name "bifurcata" is from Latin meaning “divided into two parts”, in reference to the forking ("bifurcate") fibres covering the seeds.

Description

Flowering: White flowers stalk that comes from the base of the crownshaft. Foliage: Variance of greenish colors; deep green to light green colors. Received its more commonly known Australian-English name from the appearance of its foliage, which is in a shape of a

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

’s tail. Fruits: 2 inches long. Olive green to green in the early stages. Orange red when ripe. Trunk: Similar to the king palm, the foxtail palm trunk is smooth, thin, and self-cleaning. It grows a single, double, or triple trunk that is slightly spindle-shaped to columnar reaching heights of about 10 m (30 ft). The trunk also has a closely ringed, dark grey to light gray color which slowly turns more and more white. The crownshaft of the foxtail palm is light to bright green and slightly swollen at the base. File:Fox Palm leaves.jpg, Leaflets of fox palm File:Foxtail Palm seeding.jpg, Seedling File:Wodyetia bifurcata flower.jpg, Closeup of flower. File:Foxtail Palm fruits.JPG, Mature fruits Image:FoxtailPalm seeds.jpg, Looking up at a cluster of foxtail palm fruits File:Foxtail Palm.jpg, Foxtail in Moca, Puerto Rico in the gardens of Palacete Los Moreau.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the

Cape Melville Cape Melville is a headland on the eastern coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Australia. To its west lies Princess Charlotte Bay. It is part of the Cape Melville National Park. Cape Melville was named Stoney Cape in 1815 by Lieutenant Charles ...

range, within the

Cape Melville National Park Cape Melville National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land) is a national park in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. The national park was previously named Cape Melville National Park until it was renamed on 28 November 2013. Geogr ...

in Queensland Australia. It was described in 1978, and was classed as a rare palm, both within

, and on the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

's Red List of Threatened Species. After it became known to the world, the Foxtail Palm's seeds were so highly sought after that a thriving black market trade formed, with illegal collectors nearly decimating the in situ populations. The species propagates readily in cultivation and this ultimately reduced the pressure on the wild population. It has become widely distributed across the world, being progressively planted out as one of the "world's most popular" palms. Image:WodyetiaBifurcataBark.jpg, Closeup of bark. File:Wodyetia bifurcata fresh seed 01.jpg, Fresh seed File:Wodyetia bifurcata fresh seed and fruit 01.jpg, Fruit and fresh seed File:Wodyetia bifurcata fresh seed and fruit 02.jpg File:Wodyetia bifurcata fruit pedicel 01.jpg, View of fruit pedicel (flower stalk) File:Wodyetia bifurcata fruit bottom 01.jpg, Fruit showing remains of style File:Wodyetia bifurcata ripe fruits 01.jpg, Fruits close up File:Wodyetia bifurcata ripe fruits 02.jpg, Fruit bunch

Ecology and habitat

The foxtail palm is endemic to a very small part of

, originally decorating the boulder-strewn, exposed gravel hills of the

range, wholly within the

. The area has been recognised for its rich

biocultural diversity Biocultural diversity is defined by Luisa Maffi, co-founder and director of Terralingua, as "the diversity of life in all its manifestations: biological, cultural, and linguistic — which are interrelated (and possibly coevolved) within a comple ...

, having long and intense Aboriginal associations and a rich biodiversity.Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service's (2008) Cape Melville National Park - Nature, culture and history webpage
Accessed 4 May 2008

References

External links