PARROT TALK

Emergent Leaf of Kentiopsis pyriformis

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Kentiopsis pyriformis

I would walk past this small, but lovely, palm each morning, a Kentiopsis pyriformis,  and since it was just feet from our gate, I would pass it several times a day and for months, six months at least, this one emergent frond would look exactly the same, never changing.

palm frond newest horizontal 1

I knew it was a slow growing palm. one of the slowest in our garden so I was quite excited one morning to come out and see this emergent leaf, with a red leaf as a bonus as well.

palm new frond

Endemic to New Caledonia,and arguably the most beautiful in the genus, this species is from rainforests in the very south of New Caledonia, and as I knew well from observation, is very slow growing. with most of them producing one or two leaves per year in their natural environment, They are critically endangered, with the main population unprotected and consisting of less than a hundred trunked individuals, although there is an abundant and regular production of readily germinating seeds,