Hydriastele costata

Botanical Description

Hydriastele costata is a single stemmed, robust to very robust, evergreen palm with an unbranched stem up to 35 metres tall and 15 - 35cm in diameter; this is topped by a spherical crown of 12 - 25 leaves, each of which can be 2.4 - 5.5 metres long including the petiole[ 1974 Title A monograph of Hydriastele (Areceae, Arecaceae) in New Guinea and Australia Publication Phytotaxa 370 (1): 001-092, 2018 Author Petoe P., Heatubun C.D. & Baker W.J. Website https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.370.1.1 Publisher Year 2018 ISBN 1179-3155 Description ]. The plant is commonly harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a source of materials. It is commonly planted near villages in New Guinea[ 1974 Title A monograph of Hydriastele (Areceae, Arecaceae) in New Guinea and Australia Publication Phytotaxa 370 (1): 001-092, 2018 Author Petoe P., Heatubun C.D. & Baker W.J. Website https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.370.1.1 Publisher Year 2018 ISBN 1179-3155 Description ]. Hydriastele costata is widely distributed, and is common across New Guinea. There are no known direct threats. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2019)[ 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. ].