Wodyetia bifurcata | Identifying Commonly Cultivated Palms

Common name

foxtail palm

Description

Stems: Solitary, erect, gray, to 15 m tall and 25 cm in diameter, swollen at the base and near the middle. Leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
scars are regular and closely spaced. Leaves: Pinnatepinnate:
like a feather; palms with pinnate leaves usually have compound leaflets attached to a rachis, although a pinnate leaf may be entire with pinnate veins (e.g., Chamaedorea metallica)
, reduplicatereduplicate:
Most palm leaflets or leaf segments are obviously folded. If the folds create an upside-down V-shape, with the margins lower than the midrib (so that rain might "run off the roof"), the folding is reduplicate.
, arching, to 3 m long. Leaflets have prominent marginal ribs and are held in several planes (plumose). The crown shaftcrown shaft:
a cylinder of clasping leaf sheaths toward the apex of the stem, found in some pinnate-leaved palms (e.g., Wodyetia bifurcata)
is pale green, to 1 m long, with a bloombloom:
a white-gray waxy powder that covers a surface
of gray to white waxy scales. Leaflets are regularly arranged, spreading in several planes, with praemorsepraemorse:
with a jagged edge or like a fish tail
tips, and large gray or brown scurfscurf:
bran-like scales (found on Phoenix roebelenii leaves, for example)
along the rachisrachis:
an extension of the petiole through the blade of a pinnate leaf to which leaflets are attached
. Flowers and fruit: Inflorescenceinflorescence:
the reproductive structure of a flowering plant, including palms, consisting of flowers and associated bracts
pendulous, to 1 m, densely branched to four orders toward the base and one or two orders at the tip, with separate, white to yellowish staminatestaminate:
a flower bearing stamens but no pistils; a “male” flower
and pistillatepistillate:
a flower bearing a pistil but no stamens; a “female” flower
flowers. Spherical to ovoid, 5 cm long fruits are orange-red when ripe, with apical stigmatic remains forming a beak.

Diagnostic features

Solitary palm with pinnatepinnate:
like a feather; palms with pinnate leaves usually have compound leaflets attached to a rachis, although a pinnate leaf may be entire with pinnate veins (e.g., Chamaedorea metallica)
leaves, pale green crown shaftcrown shaft:
a cylinder of clasping leaf sheaths toward the apex of the stem, found in some pinnate-leaved palms (e.g., Wodyetia bifurcata)
, leafleaf:
in palms -- the leaf blade (which is usually divided into leaflets or leaf segments), the petiole (or leaf stalk) and the sheath (which forms the attachment of the leaf to the stem)
rachis marked with gray or dark brown scurfscurf:
bran-like scales (found on Phoenix roebelenii leaves, for example)
, praemorsepraemorse:
with a jagged edge or like a fish tail
leaflets spreading in full-circle, foxtail-like, multiple planes.

May be confused with

The Royal Palms, Roystonea species, are similar in overall appearance in the landscape, but they are more massive.

Distribution

Native to Queensland, Australia

Additional comments

This species was named in 1983, so is a quite recent addition to the list of cultivated palm species. This lovely, fast growing palm is also among the most sought after cultivated species.

Scientific name

Wodyetia bifurcata Irvine

Family

Arecaceae/Palmae