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Pritchardia

The genus Pritchardia (family Arecaceae) consists of between 24 and 40 species of fan palms (subfamily Coryphoideae) found on tropical Pacific Ocean islands in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuamotus, and most diversely in Hawaii. The generic name honors William Thomas Pritchard (1829–1907), a British consul at Fiji.

Description

These palms vary in height, ranging from . The leaves are fan-shaped (costapalmate) and the trunk columnar, naked, smooth or fibrous, longitudinally grooved, and obscurely ringed by leaf scars. The flowers and subsequent fruit are borne in a terminal cluster with simple or compound branches of an arcuate or pendulous inflorescence that (in some species) is longer than the leaves.

Species

There are 29 known species, of which 19 are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, with the remainder on other island groups. Many are critically endangered. Oahu has the most named Pritchardia species of any of the Hawaiian islands, with nine named species on record in 1980. Eight of those species can be found in the rainy Koolau Range.

Formerly placed here

  • Licuala grandis <small>(hort. ex W. Bull) H.Wendl.</small> (as P. grandis <small>hort. ex W. Bull</small>) (Vanuatu)
  • Washingtonia filifera <small>(Linden ex André) H.Wendl.</small> (as P. filamentosa <small>H.Wendl. ex Franceschi</small> or P. filifera <small>Linden ex André</small>) (Southwestern United States and Baja California)

Relationship with humans

Native Hawaiians (who call them loulu or noulu) often plant the trees in their traditional homes. They often consume their seeds (known as hāwane or wāhane) raw, use their trunk wood as building material and leaves as roof thatching in houses and temples.

See also

References

External links