Arecaceae
Hydriastele

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

First published in Kew Bull. 59: 65 (2004)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is N. & E. New Guinea. It is a tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Descriptions

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]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/151357070/151358620

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

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
Robust, single-stemmed emergent palm to 30 m, bearing 15–19 leaves in crown
Morphology Stem
Stem 20–35 cm diam. Leaf 2–3.5 m long including petiole, arching; sheath 58–200 cm long, covered with a thin layer of woolly indumentum, crownshaft 90–250 × 15–40 cm; petiole 30–80 cm long, upper surface flattened; leaflets 38–51 each side of rachis, regularly arranged, ascending and drooping at their tips, linear; apical leaflets comprising 2–4 folds, truncately jagged at the tip
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence (50–)65–120 cm long including 6–15 cm peduncle, branched to 2(–3) orders, protandrous; rachillae 23–66; triads decussately arranged
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flower with free sepals and free petals with conspicuous, triangular tips, cream Male flower with 9–13 stamens, cream
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit ca. 15–15.5 × 10–10.5 mm when ripe, broadly ellipsoid, brown to red
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed ca. 10 × 8 mm, broadly ellipsoid; endosperm homogeneous.
Distribution
Highland areas from the Cyclops Mountains to far south-eastern New Guinea.
Ecology
Premontane to montane rainforest at 700–1,950 m.
Vernacular
Aidjaka (Tari), Limbom (Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin), Kawoisch (Mendi), Pipi (Kotte), Tuwenpeh (Wapi), Uwo (Wagu), Yauwi (Kagua), Gamu (unknown dialect).
Conservation
Least Concern (IUCN 2019).
Note
Hydriastele ledermanniana is a robust, single- stemmed, canopy emergent with arching leaves and protandrous inflorescences with long (6–15 cm) peduncles. The species is most similar to H. calcicole and H. gibbsiana but those species have short peduncles (3–5 cm long) and the former is also less robust while the latter is strongly ventricose.
[PONG]

Uses

Use
Leaves used for thatch. Sheathing leaf bases are used as vessels to carry food. Young shoot (heart- of-palm) is edible. Split trunk used for flooring. Inflorescences used for brooms. Fruit used as a betel nut substitute.
[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