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Rhapis excelsa

Lady Palm

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Lady Palm, Bamboo Palm, Ground Rattan, Miniature Fan-Palm, Fern Rhapis

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE s.China

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental leaves

KEY FEATURES: Low reedlike palm to 3m. Stems slender, several to many in a cluster. Leaves fan-shaped, 3-10 segments to 30x7cm, blunt tipped. Some cultivars are variegated. Plants unisexual (=dioecious, "two houses")

SIMILAR SPECIES: Slender Lady Palm (Rhapis humilis) has more leaf segments, 9-15 (vs. usually 3-7 rarely 8-10); narrower leaf segments, to 3cm (vs. to 7cm); leaflet tip sharp (vs. blunt); never sets fruit (vs. sets fruit).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
	-	-	-	-		-		-

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Rhapis excelsa (Thunb.)
SYNONYMS: Chamaerops excelsa Thunb.; Rhapis flabelliformis L'Hér. ex Aiton; Trachycarpus excelsus (Thunb.) H. Wendl.

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); ARECIDAE; Arecales; ARECACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.92 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.947 Hortus 3rd
p.980 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.798 Tropica

Data Update History (information):
zB02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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