Kase

The Essence

"Masoala madagascariensis is one of only two species in the genus Masoala, both endemic to Madagascar. It is a solitary, squat but massive litter-trapping palm: 20-31 stiff leaves 3-4 m long are held in a shuttlecock crown that catches falling debris, and the palm sends aerial roots up into the trapped litter. Genera Palmarum separates the genus from the superficially similar Marojejya by its lax bisexual rather than congested unisexual inflorescences, and by its symmetrical fruit with apical stigmatic remains. It is also among the world's rarest palms. The IUCN assessment, dated 17 December 2010 and published in 2012, lists it as Critically Endangered under criteria C2a(i); D, with just 30 mature individuals in a severely fragmented, declining population recorded from six to eight locations. The threats recorded are shifting agriculture, gathering of terrestrial plants, and logging and wood harvesting; the species occurs in at least one protected area, and is protected in Marojejy, Masoala and Mananara Avaratra. Uses recorded by IUCN include thatch and handicrafts from the leaves, an edible palm heart, and fruits with edible nuts, alongside international trade in seed for horticulture. Among growers it is a prized collector's palm - Palmpedia quotes a grower calling it one of the "holy grail" palms - but a very slow one, apparently taking decades to form a trunk in cultivation. Documented specimens include plants at Floribunda Palms in Hawaii, in Thailand, and in the Gold Coast hinterland of Queensland, Australia."

The type material was collected by Perrier (Perrier 11938) at Marambo, Antalaha, in October 1912 and is held at Paris (P). Although named in 1933, the palm remained effectively unknown as a living plant for a further half-century: until 1986 it was represented only by very incomplete material in the Paris Herbarium, which gave little indication of its appearance or relationships. Genera Palmarum could therefore place Masoala only in an uncertain position among the arecoid palms, until new material was collected as the book went to press. The 1995 monograph assessed the palm as Vulnerable, noting it was then known from only three recent sites, all with low numbers; IUCN likewise published a Vulnerable listing in 1998, before the 2010 assessment moved it to Critically Endangered.