Arecaceae
Hydriastele

Hydriastele flabellata (Becc.) W.J.Baker & Loo

First published in Kew Bull. 59: 64 (2004)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is New Guinea. It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/151356951/151358600

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Baker, W.J., Barfod, A.S., Cámara-Leret, R., Dowe, J.L., Heatubun, C.D., Petoe, P., Turner, J.H., Zona, S. & Dransfield, J. (2024) Palms of New Guinea. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond. 726 pp.

Morphology General Habit
Very slender, multi-stemmed palm to 4 m, bearing 4–8 leaves per crown
Morphology Stem
Stem 1–2 cm diam. Leaf 35–90 cm long including petiole; sheath 8–23 cm long; petiole 10–30 cm; blade 20–65 cm long, entire-bifid or dissected with up to 6 leaflets each side of rachis; leaflets (when present) regularly or irregularly arranged, single- or multi-fold, wedge-shaped, jagged at their tips
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence 8–15 cm long including 1–3 cm peduncle, spicate or branched to 1 order, protandrous; rachillae 1–2 (rarely 3), with green to yellow axes; triads spirally arranged
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flower with free sepals and free petals with conspicuous, triangular tips, cream to light green or purplish Male flower with 6 stamens, cream to violet
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit 12–15 × 5–8 mm when ripe, ellipsoid to spindle-shaped, red
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed 10–12 × 4–7 mm, ellipsoid; endosperm homogeneous.
Distribution
Widespread in mainland New Guinea.
Ecology
Rainforest on slopes and ridges from sea level to 700 m.
Vernacular
Mplemponik (Sayal), Filiawoi Yamu (Bewani).
Conservation
Least Concern (IUCN 2019).
Note
Hydriastele flabellata is an understorey palm with variable leaf morphology ranging from entire-bifid to pinnate with up to six wedge-shaped leaflets on each side of the rachis. The species is distinguished by its inflorescences, which are 8–15 cm long and typically consist of one (spicate) or two rachillae, and by its fruit with homogeneous endosperm. Hydriastele flabellata may be confused with H. montana or H. pinangoides but the former species has leaves with 9–11 narrowly linear leaflets on each side of the rachis while H. pinangoides, which can have similar foliage, is usually taller and displays 18–30 cm long inflorescences with 2–6 rachillae and ruminate endosperm.
[PONG]

Uses

Use
Leaves used as food wrapping and stems used for making arrow shafts and fish spear handles.
[PONG]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Palms of New Guinea

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0