Nikau

Nikau palm

The Nikau Palm ( Rhopalostylis sapida ) is a common New Zealand species of the palm family ( Arecaceae ). No other species of palm growing in still more southerly latitudes in the wild.

Description and Use

This palm - type growth reached heights of up to 15 meters. Your tribe has a clearly recognizable ring structure and ends up in a thickening of up to one meter in length with smooth bark. The leaves attain a length of up to 2.5 meters. Each sheet consists of numerous narrow leaf segments, which can be up to 1 meter long.

Flowering is in summer from November to April and fruits bears the Nikau palm February to November. So this need almost a year to mature. These fruits are the preferred food of the kereru, the Maori pigeon.

The Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand used earlier the palm fronds of the Nikau palm to the ceiling of their homes.

Occurrence and Origin of the name

The Nikau palm is the only palm that occurs indigenous to New Zealand. Their natural habitat is the coastal region and deeper forests of the North Island and the South Island north of a line from Okarito in the west and the Banks Peninsula in the east. It also occurs on the Chatham Islands southeast of New Zealand, and in particular the Pitt Iceland, where she 's southernmost palm is at 44 ° S around the world.

The name " Nikau " comes from the language of Māori; in other Polynesian languages ​​Nikau is a name for the leaves of the coconut palm.

Another interpretation of the name is " without nuts ", in reference to the lack of coconut seeds.

Pictures

Inflorescences and fruits of the Nikau palm