''Archontophoenix cunninghamiana'' (Bangalow palm, king palm, Illawara palm, ''piccabben'', ''piccabeen'') is an Australian palm. It can grow over 20 m tall. Its flower colour is violet and the red fruits are attractive to birds. It flowers in midsummer and has

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

foliage. The piccabeen palm grows in the wet subtropics on the sides of Mt Warning Volcano in northern NSW and over the border in Queensland's Lamington National Park, for example. It seeks a stable water supply so ravines and grottos are well populated. Its fronds do not create a nesting environment for insects or macrofauna like rodents, so are a tolerable tree for urban environments. They arrived in Australia from the landbridge created 45,000 years ago due to the receding ocean levels during the last glacial period, but the probable 'native' environment in prehistory was

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. It has become a noxious weed in many areas where it has been used as an

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 ...

. In southern Brazil, it has become an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

, profiting from the local extinction of the endangered native palm '' Euterpe edulis''. In New Zealand, ''A. cunninghamiana'' could invade native forests, since it has the same ecological requirements as the native

nikau palm ''Rhopalostylis sapida'', commonly known as nīkau ( mi, nīkau), is a palm tree endemic to New Zealand, and the only palm native to mainland New Zealand. Etymology is a Māori word; in the closely related Eastern Polynesian languages of the ...

. The Auckland Regional Council has included ''A. cunninghamiana'' on a list of plants requiring further research on their potential to adversely affect the environment.ARC Research Programme
/ref> In the United States, the palm is commonly cultivated in California from San Luis Obispo south to the Mexican border and in much of central and southern Florida.

References

Christiani, Alexander V. - "Fecundity, dispersal, and predation of seeds of ''Archontophoenix cunninghamiana'' H. Wendl & Drude, an invasive palm in the Atlantic Forest". ''Revista Brasileira de Botânica'', V.29, no.4, October/December 200
Portuguese & English abstracts
Frisch, J.D. & Frisch, C.D. - ''Aves Brasileiras e plantas que as atraem'' 'Brazilian birds and plants which attract them'' 2005, São Paulo, Dalgas Ecotec, cunninghamiana Palms of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Trees of Australia Ornamental trees Taxa named by Carl Georg Oscar Drude {{tree-stub