Australian Native Plants

  Arenga australasica (Australian Arenga Palm)


Arenga australasica photo
Arenga australasica. Cooktown Botanic Gardens

Photograph by Lokal_Profil. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)




PLANT FACTS

distribution map showing range of Arenga australasica in Australia

Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License


Common Name
Australian Arenga Palm

Other Names
Southern Arenga

Description
The Australian Arenga Palm is a clumping palm that grows to twenty metres tall. The plant suckers from the base and individual trunks can grow to about 30 cm in diameter. The fronds are pinnate, dark green above and paler below, and can have over a hundred leaflets per leaf. The leaflets are notched at the end, with blunt ended leaflets at the tip of the frond. It produces clusters of yellow flowers firstly from the leaf bases higher up the plant, and then progressively down the plant. The fruit are reddish or purple in colour and 1 cm to 2 cm long. Individual trunks die after flowering

Habitat
found in coastal rainforest and vine forest

Distribution
Australian Arenga Palm is found in scattered areas of north coast of the Northern Territory, and on tropical Queensland coast north of Tully.

Growth Characteristics
Height: 15m-20m
Spread: fronds to 4m

Classification
Class:Liliopsida
Order:Arecales
Family:Arecaceae
Genus:Arenga
Species:australasica
Common Name:Australian Arenga Palm