Lodoicea maldivica

Botanical Description

Lodoicea maldivica is a slow-growing, but eventually very large, unarmed, single-stemmed fan palm that can reach a height of 25 metres[ 314 Title Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia. Publication Author Website http://www.pacsoa.org.au/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Contains at least a little information on the majority of palm and cycad species, plus a wealth of photographs. A first class website. ]. It is famed for its enormous seeds, which weigh about 20kg, and are the largest seeds of any plant[ 314 Title Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia. Publication Author Website http://www.pacsoa.org.au/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Contains at least a little information on the majority of palm and cycad species, plus a wealth of photographs. A first class website. ]. The plant is cultivated on a small scale in India. Before the discovery of the Seychelles Isl. (1743) only the fruits of this species, floating and displaced by sea drift, were known[ 317 Title Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants Publication Author Website http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Terse details of a huge range of useful plants. ]. This gave rise to superstitious speculations on their origin and their effects as medicinal miracle drug[ 317 Title Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants Publication Author Website http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Terse details of a huge range of useful plants. ]. The long-term overexploitation of the unusual nuts has virtually wiped out natural recruitment. Fire is another major threat to the species. The plant has been classified as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2011)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].