Black basselinia

The Essence

"Basselinia pancheri is a slender New Caledonian palm, often regarded as one of the most attractive of the island's palms for its crownshaft, which ranges from brown through dark red to purplish black outside and is brilliant orange within. Solitary and rarely clustering, it reaches 10-15 m on a trunk only 2-10 cm thick, sometimes with adventitious roots at the base, and carries a small crown of 5-8 stiff, nearly entire, erect leaves. It grows in the forest subcanopy or as an emergent, and is dominant in disturbed areas. In a genus of twelve species confined to New Caledonia, it is described as one of the most adaptable and does well in most tropical and subtropical climates, though it remains slow and fastidious in cultivation: a Californian account records it grown there on multiple occasions but with no adult specimens as of 2015. Its seeds are sold into the international horticultural trade, and a distinctive very compact-crowned form from high altitude on Me Ori is offered separately. Synonyms include Kentia pancheri, Cyphokentia pancheri, Clinostigma pancheri, Microkentia pancheri and Nephrocarpus schlechteri."

First described as Kentia pancheri by Brongniart and Gris in Bulletin de la Societe Botanique de France 11: 316 (1864); the current combination was published by Eugene Vieillard (1819-1896) in Bulletin de la Societe Linneenne de Normandie, ser. 2, 6: 232 (1873).