Licuala fordiana

Licuala (lik-oo-AH-lah) fordiana (ford-ee-AHN-ah)
Nong Nooch Botanic Garden, Thailand. Photo by Paul Craft
Scientific Classification
Genus: Licuala (lik-oo-AH-lah) Species: fordiana (ford-ee-AHN-ah)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Asia
Morphology
Habit: Clustering Leaf type: Costapalmate Height: 3' to 5'
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Sui Hua Zhou Lü

Habitat and Distribution

China Southeast, Hainan province. Lowland rain forests; below 500 m. Guangdong, Hainan.

Nong Nooch Botanic Garden, Thailand. Photo by Paul Craft

Description

Stems clustered, short and subterranean. Lacking leaf sheaths and ocreas; petioles to 1 m, unarmed or proximal about half with widely spaced, recurved, brown thorns to 1 cm; blades to 1 m wide, split into 15-22 segments, green on both surfaces, with slightly curved sides; middle segment slightly wider than others, not split, 25-52 cm, 2-6 cm wide at apex. Plants monoecious. Inflorescences shorter than leaves, to 1.5 m, erect among leaves; rachis to 75 cm, with 3-7 first order branches, these spicate, rarely with 2 or 3 rachillae; rachilla 1 (-3), 15-20 cm, densely hairy; flowers borne in clusters. Fruits globose, 0.7-0.8 cm in diam., with clasping perianth, red at maturity, borne on short stalks. (efloras.org) Editing by edric

Culture

Heavily fitered light. Cold Hardiness Zone: 9b

Comments and Curiosities

Uses: The leaves are used to make raincoats.

A moderately sized species native to moist forests in southeastern China, and on the island of Hainan, with circular leaves around 75 cm (25 in.) across, that are divided into about 20 rather narrow segments. The slender petioles are armed with small, black thorns along the margins. The inflorescences are upright and nearly unbranched. In cultivation it is little known, but will adapt easily to most tropical and frost free warm temperate climates. (RPS.com)