Mountain thatch palm

The Essence

"Thrinax parviflora is a slender fan palm found only in Jamaica, where it grows on exposed limestone hills and ridges — including the Blue Mountains — from near sea level to about 900 m. Olof Swartz first published the species in 1788, and it is now one of only three species left in the genus Thrinax, two of them Jamaican endemics. The smooth trunk, mostly 1–10 m tall and rarely more than 15 cm thick, carries thick, leathery, grass-green leaves whose 37–57 rhomboid segments are characteristically twisted and curled. Erect to arching inflorescences up to 175 cm long bear small, fragrant, ivory to yellowish flowers, followed by white globose fruits only 6.5–7.5 mm across. Two subspecies are recognised: subsp. parviflora, with an open crown of conspicuously twisted and curled segments, and subsp. puberula, with a denser crown of broader, flatter blades. It is a true thatch palm: the dried leaves are used for thatch, roofing, hats and handicrafts, and the stems serve as poles — a heritage preserved in Jamaican names such as thatch pole and broom thatch. Rare in cultivation, it is nonetheless regarded as one of the prettiest palms in its genus."

Olof Swartz described the species in his Prodromus of the West Indian flora in 1788. The two subspecies recognised today trace to R.W. Read's 1975 monograph of the genus, published in Smithsonian Contributions to Botany.