Archontophoenix alexandrae (F.Muell.) H.Wendl. & Drude, Arecaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 6 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Ptychosperma alexandrae F. v. Muell.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Alexandra palm, king palm, northern bungalow palm

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trunk gray, up to ca. 30 m tall.  Leaves ca. 10, up to 2.5 m long, pinnae ca. 80 on each side, up to 80 cm long and 5 cm wide, whitish or ash-colored on lower surface, sheath green.  Inflorescences up to 70 cm long, with pendulous rachillae to the fourth order; staminate flowers white or cream, 5-6 mm long, stamens 9-16.  Fruit red, 1-1.4 cm long, 0.8-1.1 cm in diameter"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1362).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "commonly cultivated and now naturalized in low elevation mesic valleys" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1362).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Queensland, Australia, but widely cultivated (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1362).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 411)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1362)
Japan (offshore islands) Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	introduced	Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 110)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Additional information:  Report (PDF format) from US Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Haleakala Field Station, Hawaii "Plants of Hawaii".

Additional online information about Archontophoenix alexandrae is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Archontophoenix alexandrae may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Kato, Hidetoshi. 2007. Herbarium records of Makino Herbarium, Tokyo Metropolitan University. Personal communication.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).