Voanioala gerardii

Botanical Description

Voanioala gerardii is an evergreen, solitary-stemmed palm tree growing up to 20 metres tall and looking somewhat like a coconut palm[ 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 unbranched bole is topped by a rosette of leaves that can be up to 5 metres long[ 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 tree is harvested from the wild for its edible apical bud, which is consumed locally. The tree is seriously threatened by habitat destruction and harvesting of the apical bud for food. Fewer than 10 trees are known to exist in the wild[ 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. ]. Unless effective protection can be given to areas of forest on the Masoala Peninsula and the trees are safeguarded against exploitation, the species is unlikely to survive. The plant is classified as 'Critically Endangered' 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. ].