Latanier palm

The Essence

"Roscheria melanochaetes is the sole species of a monotypic genus and is considered the rarest of the endemic Seychelles palms, closely related to the other endemic island genera Nephrosperma, Phoenicophorium and Verschaffeltia. It grows in the understory of moist mountainous rainforest on the inner granitic islands, mainly Mahé and Silhouette, with the IUCN also recording it on Praslin. The palm is slow-growing, solitary and slender, its ringed trunk reaching about 8 m tall and 8 cm in diameter. Young plants carry rings of black spines at each stem node and unfold undivided, pink to red juvenile leaves; adults lose the stem spines but keep them on the crownshaft and petioles. Mature leaflets are remarkably variable in width, ribbing and tips, and, unusually for a crownshafted palm, the branched inflorescence emerges from the leaf axil rather than below the crownshaft. Small yellow flowers give way to red to blackish-red single-seeded fruits about 6 mm to 1 cm across, probably dispersed by frugivores. Assessed as Near Threatened in 2011, the species regenerates well and occurs in the Morne Seychellois and Praslin National Parks, though its restricted range and habitat decline driven by invasive alien species remain concerns. A demanding shade- and moisture-lover, it is grown at the Mont Fleuri Botanic Garden, Fairchild, Nong Nooch and in the Kew Palm House."

Roscheria melanochaetes was first published in J.G. Baker's Flora of Mauritius and the Seychelles in 1877; its synonyms include Verschaffeltia melanochaetes and Phoenicophorium viridifolium, names in two of the closely related endemic Seychelles genera. The palm is legally protected under the Laws of Seychelles 1991.