Wodyetia
| Wodyetia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Wodyetia bifurcata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Genus: |
Wodyetia A.K.Irvine |
| Species: | W. bifurcata |
| Binomial name | |
|
Wodyetia bifurcata A.K.Irvine |
|
Wodyetia bifurcata, the foxtail palm, is a species of palm in the Arecaceae family, native to Queensland, Australia. It is the sole species in the genus Wodyetia.
The Palm and Cycads Societies of Australia (PACSOA) describes this palm as follows:
"Very attractive palm with long (2-3m.) plumose leaves (hence the name 'Foxtail'), and up to 10m tall with a grey trunk. It produces large (about the size of a duck egg) orange fruit"
Most of the world was unaware of the existence of this 'spectacular' palm until 1978, when an Aboriginal man brought it to botanists and the world's attention
The Aboriginal name of that Aboriginal man has been recorded as being "Wodyeti", thus the genus name for this Australian endemic species Wodyetia. The specific name "bifurcata" is from Latin meaning “divided into two parts”, in reference to its leaves.
The foxtail palm is endemic to a very small part of Australia, originally decorating the boulder-strewn, exposed gravel hills of the Cape Melville range, wholly within the Cape Melville National Park.
The area has been recognised for its rich biocultural diversity, having long and intense Aboriginal associations and a rich biodiversity.
In addition to being a habitat for foxtail palms, the Melville Range is a habitat for animals such as the Godman's rock-wallaby (Petrogale godmani), the tropical ring-tailed gecko (Cyrtodactylus louisiadensi) plus endemic frogs and lizards such as the Cape Melville boulder skink (Cryptoblepharus fuhni), the Melville Range treefrog (Litoria andiirrmalin) and the Cape Melville boulderfrog (Cophixalus zweifeli).
Flowering: White flowers stalk that comes from the base of the crownshaft.
Foliage: Variance of greenish colors; deep green to light green colors. Received its more commonly known Australian-English name from the appearance of its foliage, which is in a shape of a fox’s tail.
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Wikipedia