''Beccariophoenix fenestralis'' is a species of plant 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 ...

. It was described as a species distinct from '' Beccariophoenix madagascariensis'' in 2014.J. Dransfield, M. Rakotoarinivo. 2014. ''Beccariophoenix fenestralis''. Palms, International Palms Society, 58(2), June 2014
/ref>

Description

''Beccariophoenix fenestralis'' is a palm tree which grows about 10 meters tall. It differs from ''B. madagascariensis'' when a seedling, in having wide, mostly unsplit leaves, whereas the ''B. madagascariensis'' has fully split, very stiff upright leaves when young.

Range and habitat

''Beccariophoenix fenestralis'' is known from a single location in

Brickaville Brickaville is a town and commune in Atsinanana Region, Madagascar. Also known as Ampasimanolotra, Brickaville is located along Route nationale 2 (RN 2), 105 km south of Toamasina (the primary seaport of the country) and 220 km east of ...

Atsinanana Atsinanana is a coastal region in eastern Madagascar. It borders Analanjirofo region in the north, Alaotra-Mangoro in the west, Vakinankaratra and Amoron'i Mania in the southwest, and Vatovavy in the south. The region contains over 285km of coas ...

region, growing in humid lowland forest at 140 meters elevation.

Conservation and threats

There is only one known population of the species, with an

area of occupancy Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-dimen ...

(AOO) of 4 km². It is threatened by harvesting of mature plants and habitat loss from shifting cultivation. Its habitat is not protected. Its conservation status is assessed 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

Cocoseae Endemic flora of Madagascar Plants described in 2014 Flora of the Madagascar lowland forests {{Cocoseae-stub