WorldFloraDB - Phoenix loureiroi

Characteristics

A clumping palm. It can grow up to 4 m high. The trunk can be 20-30 cm across. The old leaf bases are attached to the stems. The fronds are numerous and spreading. They are 2 m long and the leaflets 30 cm long. The leaf stalk is 60 cm long and compressed but not grooved and with long scattered spines. The leaflets are carried in several planes. They are twisted and curved back. The leaflets are bright green and narrow. They are stiff and well spaced. The flower stalk is in the axils of leaves and bears small pale yellow flowers. The flowering stalks are short. Male and female flowers are on separate plants. The fruiting branch has alternating clusters near the ends. The fruit are oblong. They are 12 mm long and dark purple when ripe. There is a sweet edible pulp around a hard seed. The stone of the seed has a groove along its length.

More

Stems solitary or clustered, 1-6 m tall, 20-40 cm in diam., sometimes short and subterranean, rough with persistent, diamond-shaped leaf bases. Leaves to 2 m; sheath and petiole to 40 cm; rachis 1-2 m; acanthophylls ca. 15 per side of rachis; pinnae 40-130 per side of rachis, linear, irregularly arranged and spreading in different planes; middle pinnae 20-50 × 1-4 cm. Male inflorescences erect, to 65 cm, with to 30 rachillae, these ca. 10 cm; female inflorescences erect, becoming arched, to 2 m, with to 40 rachillae, these to 40 cm. Fruits black, blue-black, or dark purple, ovoid to obovoid, to 1.8 × 0.9 cm; endosperm homogeneous.

Life form

perennial

Growth form

tree

Growth support

free-standing

Foliage retention

evergreen

Sexuality

dioecy

Pollination

-

Spread

-

Mature width (meter)

-

Mature height (meter)

2.25 - 3.75

Root system

-

Rooting depth (meter)

-

Root diameter (meter)

-

Flower color

Blooming months

Jan	Feb	Mar
Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep
Oct	Nov	Dec

Fruit color

Fruiting months

-

Nitrogen fixer

-

Photosynthetic pathway

c3

Environment

A tropical plant. In the Philippines it grows from sea level to 1425 m altitude. It grows in low mountain forest as well as in cleared forest. It grows along mountain streams. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In Yunnan. In Townsville palmetum.

More

Undergrowth in open forests, Pinus forests, scrubland, open grassy areas, dunes, often on steep slopes, very common in areas disturbed by human activity and in places subject to burning; at elevations up to 1,700 metres.

Light
Soil humidity
Soil texture
Soil acidity	-
Soil nutriment	-
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

The ripe fruit are eaten raw. It is the fleshy layer of the ripe fruit that is chewed and the seeds are spat out. An edible starch can be extracted from the stem.

Uses	environmental use gene source material medicinal
Edible	fruits seeds shoots stems
Therapeutic use	-
Human toxicity	-
Animal toxicity	-

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds.

Mode	seedlings
Germination duration (days)	-
Germination temperacture (C°)	-
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	soaking
Minimum temperature (C°)	-7
Optimum temperature (C°)	-
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-