''Ravenea moorei'' is a species of

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

. This species is critically endangered, with only two mature specimens last noted in 1993. In 2023, a small population was found by researchers from Kew Gardens.

Etymology

''Ravenea moorei'' was named by

John Dransfield John Dransfield (born 1945) is former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Dransfield has written or contributed to several books on palms, notably both the first and second editions of '' Genera Palmarum''. ...

and

Natalie Uhl Natalie Whitford Uhl (1919–2017) was an American botanistIPNI: Natalie Whitf ...

in honor of noted palm botanist

Harold E. Moore Harold Emery Moore, Jr. (July 7, 1917 – October 27, 1980) was an American botanist especially known for his work on the systematics of the Arecaceae, palm family. He served as Director of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University, and wa ...

References

moorei Endemic flora of the Comoros Critically endangered flora of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{palm-stub