Vieillard's Kentia Palm

The Essence

"Burretiokentia vieillardii is the widespread member of a genus of five palms endemic to New Caledonia — the other four are only locally distributed. Genera Palmarum describes it as widely distributed from south-east to north-east New Caledonia, and calls it one of the most common palms in New Caledonia; Palmpedia adds that it is widespread throughout the mainland, occurring "from one end of the island to the other, seemingly wherever one enters the forest", often forming large, gregarious populations. Good places to see it include Col des Roussettes between Bourail and Houaïlou, and Mt. Aoupinié, where it forms large stands. It is a solitary, unarmed, monoecious palm of 10–20 m with glossy, prominently ringed stems and a well-developed crownshaft, whose covering Hodel describes as reddish brown or dark brown to glossy copper-coloured and which carries the striking "pin stripe" striations the palm is known for. That colouring distinguishes it from its closest relative B. hapala, which has a pale brown to whitish crownshaft covering and, in flower, an inflorescence densely coated in short pale brown hairs that gives it a fuzzy look. Palmpedia reports that it fruits year-round while the other species are seasonal. No uses are recorded. It remains rare in cultivation, and the crownshaft pin stripes are difficult to maintain there."

Donald Hodel's account of the genus in PALMS 67(4): 196–201 (2023) was the second of four articles commissioned to highlight the palm diversity of New Caledonia, the destination for the IPS Biennial in 2024. It opens by suggesting that if the quintessential New Caledonia palm existed, there is a pretty good chance that it is a Burretiokentia.