Actinorhytis calapparia
Name: from two Greek meaning 'ray' and 'fold' which describe the endosperm of the seed.
English: Calappa palm.
Genus: 1 species.
Region: New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Oceania, southeast Asia.
Use: magical or medicinal powers; substitute to betel.
Botany: palm, to ± 12 m heighthabitat rain forest; fruit largest of any palm in the Iguanurinae; trunk solitary, slender, to 20 cm wide, the base white to tan, anchored by a large, conical mass of aerial roots; crownshaft caracteristic, sparse, spherical; leaves arching, pinnate, ±3 m long, dark green; leaflets closely and regularly arranged along the rachis; petiole abaxially rounded, long in youth, shorter in maturity; inflorescence, much branched, monoecious; flowers cream, three sepals, two or three times longer than the three petals; fruits beaked, ovoid, red to purple to green; containing one seed; habitat lowland rain forest; understory, eventually reach the top of the forest canopy; little tolerance for drought; requiring generous water as well as nutrient rich soil; some tolerance to cold.