Photo: Emily Whitfield-Wicks
New home for a rare palm
An extremely rare species of palm has found a new permanent home in Eden’s Rainforest Biome. The palm Tahina spectabilis is so rare that it’s only found in a remote five-hectare area in north- western Madagascar. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and there are fewer than 40 mature plants growing in the wild. Discovered in late 2006, the new species was officially described after scientists from Kew Gardens went to Madagascar to identify it. The palm flowers and sets seed just
once before it dies. The plant uses an incredible amount of energy to produce a pyramid-shaped panicle that can
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grow 4–5 metres above the crown of the palm and consists of hundreds of three-flowered clusters. (This behaviour is often seen in agaves but rarely in palms.) These clusters bloom in three consecutive, synchronised cohorts, attracting insects and birds for pollination. The distinctiveness of this palm
meant that a new, unique plant genus – a category normally grouping similar plants together – was created just for this single species. There are now a small number in cultivation in Thailand, Costa Rica, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico, but this one was grown at Cambridge University Botanic Garden. It’s been relocated to Eden because at four metres tall it was outgrowing CUBG’s glasshouse. Tahina spectabilis can grow up to 18 metres in height
and its leaves grow up to 5 metres in diameter. It has been planted in the Tropical Islands area of the Rainforest Biome, where the team have created a special bed to support the palm to grow to its full size. Luigi Leoni, Cambridge University
Botanic Garden's glasshouse team leader, said, ‘It’s really exciting for the tahina palm to be able to reach its full size at the Eden Project – something that wouldn’t have been possible in our glasshouses. This will probably allow for this critically endangered species to flower and produce seeds in a few decades’ time – definitely a first, since this species was only described in 2008 and introduced to cultivation later on.’ Simon Davies
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