Common Name:

General Information

Saribus jeanneneyi is a single-stemmed, evergreen palm with an unbranched trunk up to 10 metres tall and 15cm in diameter; the trunk is topped by a crown of around 15 fan-shaped leaves with petioles around 135cm wide and leaf blades around 100cm across.
The edible inner heart of the apical bud was at one time harvested intesively as a source of food. Since harvesting this bud inevitably means the death of the plant, the population of this species was almost wped out.
Saribus jeanneneyi was intensively harvested for its edible apical bud in the nineteenth century, reducing a formerly sizeable population to its current state in the wild of just one mature individual and some immature plants. The plant is classified as 'Critically Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2020)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Western Pacific - southern New Caledonia

Habitat

An understorey to canopy tree growing in dense humid forest on soils derived from ultramafic rocks; at elevations from 200 - 250 metres[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Critically Endangered
Edibility Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	10.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

The plant requires a warm, sheltered and moist position when young, but becomes very resiliant as it gets older.

Edible Uses

The inner heart of the apical bud has been used as a vegetable, but since the species has been driven almost to extinction due to this harvesting, the practice cannot be condoned until such time as it can be done sustainably[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - germinates readily, but young plants can be difficult to establish.

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