''Ravenea latisecta'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

. As are most other species of palm tree in the genus ''

Ravenea ''Ravenea'' is a genus of 20 known species of palms, all native to Madagascar and the Comoros. It is not to be confused with ''Ravenala'', a genus of superficially palm-like plants also from Madagascar. They are small to large, dioecious palms, ...

'', it is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. It is native to eastern central

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. Here it is known to grow in a single protected area, the

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is a 155 square kilometre protected area, located about 150 km east of Antananarivo, consisting principally of primary growth forest in the Alaotra-Mangoro Region in eastern Madagascar. The park's elevation ...

. However biologists haven't located this species in the wild since 1992, when four mature trees were identified. Consequently, ''Ravenea latisecta'' may be extinct in the wild but recently collected data is not available to confirm nor contradict this claim. As of now, the species remains classified as

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

References

latisecta Endemic flora of Madagascar Endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{palm-stub