Hedyscepe canterburyana (Big Mountain Palm)

Hedyscepe canterburyana in cultivation at Kerikeri, New Zealand

Photograph by Kahuroa. License: Public Domain. (view image details)

Fruits of Hedyscepe canterburyana, in cultivation at South Pacific Palms, Kerikeri, New Zealand

Photograph by Kahuroa. License: Public Domain. (view image details)

Hedyscepe canterburyana, in cultivation at Auckland Botanic Gardens, Manukau City, New Zealand.

Photograph by Kahuroa. License: Public Domain. (view image details)

BIG MOUNTAIN PALM FACTS

distribution map showing range of Hedyscepe canterburyana in Australia

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

Common Name
Big Mountain Palm

Other Names
Umbrella Palm

Description
Big Mountain Palm is a solitary feather-leaved palm with a slender ringed trunk growing to ten metres tall. The crownshaft is greyish green and the green fronds are pinnate and arch downwards. Creamy coloured flowers are produced in branched clusters from below the crownshaft. The fruit are red when ripe and quite large at about 4 cm in diameter. It gets its common name from is habitat on the slopes of Lord Howe Island's largest mountains. This palm is becoming more popular in cultivation where it is best suited to the cooler parts of the subtropics and warmer temperate climates.

Habitat
grows in forest and exposed slopes

Distribution
Hedyscepe canterburyana is found only on Lord Howe Island.

Growth Characteristics
Height: 10m

Classification

Class:	Liliopsida
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Genus:	Hedyscepe
Species:	canterburyana
Common Name:	Big Mountain Palm