Caryota urens L., Arecaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 5 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: fishtail palm, fishtail wine palm, jaggery palm, kitul-tree, sago palm, solitary fishtail palm, toddy palm, wine palm

French: caryote brûlant, mier céleri

Spanish: palmera de sagú

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trunk solitary, annulate, erect, up to 12 m tall, 60-90 cm thick. Leaves up to 3.5 m or more long and up to 3 m wide, not grouped in a terminal crown, but arising successively along the trunk for a good distance below the summit. Leaflets obliquely truncate, 1.2-1.5 m long, alternate, swollen at the point of insertion, outer margin of the leaflets produced into a narrow point, bright green from the lower side; petiole stout; sheath smooth, margin fibrous. Inflorescence axillary, very large, 3 m or more long, pendulous, once branched, branches of equal length. Peduncle curved, thick, enveloped with large bracts, male flowers much larger than the female flowers, longer than broad, slender, 1.2 cm or more in length; calyx 3-lobed, sepal's margin ciliate; corolla 3-lobed, valvate, woody; stamens 40-45, as long as the petals, anthers acuminate, basifixed, filaments 1-1.5 mm long; pistillode absent; female flower: sepals as in the male; petals 3, lobes valvate, short; staminodes 3. Fruit small, 2 cm in diameter, juicy, juice irritant due to oxalate crystals. Seeds 1-2"  (Flora of Pakistan online).

Habitat/ecology:  "Fast growing and requires full sun, deep rich soil, and plenty of water"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 619).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka; widely cultivated (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 81)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced cultivated	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 35)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Fiji Islands	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 408)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011)
French Polynesia Tuamotu Archipelago	Rangiroa (Rairoa) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 81)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1940) (voucher ID: BISH 115728) Taxon name on voucher: Caryota urens
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Jaluit (Jãlwõj) Atoll	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 81) Did not survive (Fosberg & Sachet, 1962)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 31) Ornamental potted plants.
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	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
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Standley, Paul C./Steyermark, Julian A. (1958) (p. 24(1))
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Caryota urens is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Caryota urens as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

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

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1940. Voucher specimen #BISH115728(Neal, M.C. s.n.).

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. 1962. Vascular plants recorded from Jaluit Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 92. Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington. 39 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. 2010. Checklist of the vascular plants of Pohnpei with local names and uses. Allertonia, in press. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 146 pp.

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

Nasir, E./Ali, S. I., eds. 1985. Flora of Pakistan. Pakistan Ag. Res. Council, Islamabad. 1970-1985, 170 vols (also on-line edition).

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

Standley, Paul C./Steyermark, Julian A. 1958. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part I. Chicago Natural History Museum. 478 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.