Livistona mariae
Encyclopedia
The Central Australian Cabbage Palm (Livistona mariae) is a species of 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 found only in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 with the best-known occurrence found in Palm Valley
Palm Valley (Northern Territory)
Palm Valley, within the Finke Gorge National Park, is an east-west running valley in the Krichauff Range 123 km southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia. Palm Valley and the surrounding area is the only place in Central Australia where Livistona mariae palms survive...

 in Finke Gorge National Park
Finke Gorge National Park
Finke Gorge is a national park in the Northern Territory of Australia, 1318 km south of Darwin.The Park covers an area of 458 square kilometres, and includes the impressive desert oasis Palm Valley, home to a diverse range of plant species, many of which are rare and unique to the area...

, Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. There are more than 3,000 cabbage palms in Palm Valley, many of which are several hundred years old and form a lush oasis among the rugged rocks and gorges. The palms are relics from a previous age when Central Australia was much wetter whereas this region is now largely dry Central Ranges xeric scrub
Central Ranges xeric scrub
The Central Ranges xeric scrub is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of Australia. -Location and description:The region consists of sandy plains with some areas of rocky highland. These plains have a dry climate but do get some rain in both summer and winter...

land.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK