Pritchardia minor

Pritchardia minor
Specimen growing in Auckland, New Zealand.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Subfamily:	Coryphoideae
Tribe:	Corypheae
Subtribe:	Livistoninae
Genus:	Pritchardia
Species:	P. minor
Binomial name
Pritchardia minor Becc.

Pritchardia minor, the Alakai Swamp pritchardia or loulu, is a palm native to Hawaiʻi. It grows in wet forests in the centre of Kauaʻi at an elevation of about 1,400 metres (4,600 ft).

Description

The Alakai Swamp Pritchardia grows up to 12 metres (39 ft) high, and forms a trunk with a diameter of approximately 100 millimetres (3.9 in). The leaves are yellowish when they emerge, and this color is sometimes maintained on the undersides of mature leaves. The leaves are leathery and smooth above, but the undersides are waxy and have a covering of greyish to yellowish tomentum (felt) beneath. The shiny black fruits of this palm are ovoid, about 2 cm by 13 mm, and contain a seed up to 15 mm in diameter. It is not endangered.

Cultivation

This palm prefers a sunny, well drained, and moist location.

Common Names

• Alakaʻi Swamp pritchardia
• Alakaʻi loulu

Synonyms

• Pritchardia eriophora

References

• Palm and Cycad Society of Australia Pritchardia minor, accessed 28 April 2008.
• Jones, David L, 1995. Palms Throughout the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.