Cyphosperma trichospadix (trichospadix being derived from the Greek words for "hair" and "spadix

Spadix

In botany, a spadix is a type of spike inflorescence having small flowers borne on a fleshy stem. Spadix are typical of the Family Araceae known as arums or aroids...

," an allusion to the hirsute spathe of the inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

) is a species of evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 in the Arecaceae

Arecaceae

Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...

 family.
It is endemic to Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

, currently threatened by habitat loss, and thus extremely rare in cultivation.

Habitat

This understory

Understory

Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...

 plant thrives in rainy, cloudy mountains and forests at elevations ranging from to 2000 to 4000 ft (609.6 to 1,219.2 ).

Physical characteristics

A medium-size palm reaching approximately 23 feet (7 m) in height with 2 foot (0.6096 m) leaflets. Its fruits are oval, no more than 2 cm long, and pale yellow when ripe.

Sources

• Lee Riffle, Robert, and Paul Craft. The Tropical Look, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms. Portland: Timber Press, 2003. The Tropical Look, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms, pages 318-319
• The Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia. 31 Oct. 2008. PACSOA. 12 July, 2009. http://www.pacsoa.org.au/main/about.html http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Cyphosperma/trichospadix.html
• Fuller, D. 1998. Cyphosperma trichospadix. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 20 July 2007.