Veitchia Palm
Veitchia palm (lat. Veitchia) is a genus of evergreen palms of the Arecaceae (lat. Arecaceae), or Palm (lat. Palmaceae) family.
Palm trees of this genus are popular ornamental plants that decorate landscapes all over the world, although their homeland is the islands located in the South Pacific Ocean. In addition, they are often used as greenhouse or indoor plants because they are heat-loving, although they can withstand short-term drops in air temperatures down to minus two degrees Celsius.
Description
A thin, slender single trunk of palm trees rushes into the sky to a height of six to thirty meters. Compound, pinnate green leaves consist of many leaflets held by short petioles to a common long petiole.
Closer to the top of the trunk there is a lush crown of feathery leaves. Inflorescences are born under the crown, the flowers of which turn into red fruits, which fully ripen in winter, which gave rise to the popular name of some species of the genus — “Christmas palms”.
Varieties
Today there are eleven species of palm trees in the genus:
* Veitchia arecina is a species of flowering palm. The height of the erect trunk varies from eight to eleven meters. At the top of the palm there is a spreading crown of long feathery leaves. Palm flowers are white or yellow. Данный вид растёт только в Вануату, островном государстве. Eighty-four islands of the country are located in the South Pacific Ocean.
* Veitchia filifera is endemic to the Fiji archipelago, which is located east of the state of Vanuatu in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The species is very similar to the species “Veitchia simulans” and “Veitchia vitiensis”, which will be described below.
* Veitchia joannis is a palm tree with a straight trunk and a lush crown of complex feathery leaves, native to the Fiji Islands, but also naturalized in the island Kingdom of Tonga, which is located in the South Pacific Ocean, east of the Fiji archipelago.
* Veitchia lepidota — or Veitchia scaly, is endemic to the Solomon Islands, growing in dense tropical forests on mountain slopes and in mangroves along the coast.
* Veitchia metiti is another species of the genus that is endemic to Vanuatu, keeping company with a relative called Veitchia arecina.
* Veitchia pachyclada — this species is endangered and is endemic to the Solomon Islands.
* Veitchia simulans is a species similar to Veitchia filifera. It is native to the tropical rainforests of Taveuni Island, Fiji. It grows up to fifteen meters in height with a trunk diameter of fifteen centimeters. Due to its slenderness, the trunk is often curved. The coronal shaft is brown-black and variegated. The crown consists of no more than nine long compound leaves (up to two and a half meters long). The palm”s fruits are much larger than those of Veitchia filifera and turn red when fully ripe.
* Veitchia spiralis is a fast-growing palm suitable for the humid tropics with a slender trunk up to twenty meters tall. The coronal shaft is almost white or green, from which elegantly curved pinnate compound leaves emerge, forming a picturesque crown.
* Veitchia subdisticha is a single-trunked, erect palm with pinnate leaves, the leaf sheath of which forms a prominent coronal shaft. Green fruits turn orange and then red as they ripen. Endemic to the Solomon Islands.
* Veitchia vitiensis is a species very similar to Veitchia filifera. An attractive small Fijian palm with a single, slender trunk up to fifteen meters tall. Short, densely felted petioles with pinnate leaves up to two to four meters long emerge from a distinct crown. About eight of these leaves form the palm”s lush crown.
* Veitchia winin is endemic to the islands of Vanuatu with a single, erect trunk. The long crown supports about a dozen large, slightly curved leaves with broad, dark green, pendulous leaflets. A very decorative and fast-growing species.
