Australian Native Plants

  Livistona mariae (Central Australian Cabbage Palm)


Livistona mariae photo
Central Australian Cabbage Palm (Livistona mariae), Palm Valley, Finke Gorge National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

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

Livistona mariae photo
Livistona mariae palms (also known as Red Cabbage Palms), Palm Valley, NT

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




PLANT FACTS

distribution map showing range of Livistona mariae in Australia

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


Common Name
Central Australian Cabbage Palm

Other Names
Palm Valley Palm, Red Cabbage Palm

Description
Central Australian Cabbage Palm is a solitary fan palm growing to about twenty five metres tall with a trunk of about 30 cm in diameter. It develops a dense crown of up to fifty leaves which are shiny green with waxy underside. New fronds are reddish. It produces spikes of creamy flowers followed by round fruit which is black when ripe. Central Australian Cabbage Palm gets its common name from its range in the interior of Australia. This palm is the only palm species found in central Australia, and because of its small range, its conservation status is listed as "vulnerable". It is closely related to Livistona rigida.

Habitat
Palm Valley in the central ranges where the permanent water supply provides suitable growing conditions

Distribution
Livistona mariae is found in Finke Gorge National Park in the MacDonnell Ranges region in southern end of the Northern Territory.

Growth Characteristics
Height: 25m


Classification
Class:Liliopsida
Order:Arecales
Family:Arecaceae
Genus:Livistona
Species:mariae
Common Name:Central Australian Cabbage Palm


Relatives in same Genus
  Livistona alfredii
  Livistona australis
  Livistona decipiens
  Livistona humilis
  Livistona rigida