Hyophorbe verschaffeltii
Encyclopedia
Hyophorbe verschaffeltii, the Palmiste Marron, or Spindle Palm is a species of flowering plant
in the Arecaceae
family.
Spindle Palms are elegant looking palms that are prized for landscape palms in the tropical and semi-tropical areas of the world. They are fairly short palms with 8-10 leaves that are held somewhat erect. Spindle palms have a crownshaft that becomes a light gray-green as the palm ages. Horn-like flower spikes emerge from below the crownshaft on mature specimens.
Spindle palms are fairly cold intolerant. They are defoliated at 32°F (0°C) and may be killed at anything below that. If the palm does survive a freeze, the next few emerging leaves are stunted. Spindle palms grow in the USA only in south Florida and in isolated favored microclimates in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area and the Cape Canaveral area of central Florida. They do make good container plants that can be protected from a freeze.
Spindle Palms are endemic to Rodrigues island
, Mauritius
.
It is threatened by habitat loss. There are only fifty or so specimens left in the wild, although its survival as a species is guaranteed due to ubiquitous cultivation in tropical areas of the planet.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the Arecaceae
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
family.
Spindle Palms are elegant looking palms that are prized for landscape palms in the tropical and semi-tropical areas of the world. They are fairly short palms with 8-10 leaves that are held somewhat erect. Spindle palms have a crownshaft that becomes a light gray-green as the palm ages. Horn-like flower spikes emerge from below the crownshaft on mature specimens.
Spindle palms are fairly cold intolerant. They are defoliated at 32°F (0°C) and may be killed at anything below that. If the palm does survive a freeze, the next few emerging leaves are stunted. Spindle palms grow in the USA only in south Florida and in isolated favored microclimates in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area and the Cape Canaveral area of central Florida. They do make good container plants that can be protected from a freeze.
Spindle Palms are endemic to Rodrigues island
Rodrigues (island)
Rodrigues , sometimes spelled Rodriguez but named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius...
, Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
.
It is threatened by habitat loss. There are only fifty or so specimens left in the wild, although its survival as a species is guaranteed due to ubiquitous cultivation in tropical areas of the planet.