''Metroxylon paulcoxii'' is a species of

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (b ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. It is reported there from the islands of '

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approxim ...

and Savai'i. The species is named in honor of ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox.McClatchey, Will. 1998. A new species of ''Metroxylon'' (Arecaceae) from Western Samoa. Novon 8:252-258.
/ref> ''Metroxylon paulcoxii'' can attain a height of , with a non-branching

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Computing * Trunk (software), in rev ...

up to in diameter. Leaves are pinnately compound, with spines on the sheaths, petioles, and leaf margins. Leaflets can number as many as 150, each up to wide and long.

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

s have second-order branching, with as many as 450 flowers per branch. Flowers are wide, with

staminate The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

(male), pistillate (female), and hermaphroditic flowers frequently present on the same plant. Fruits are pear-shaped, fibrous and corky, up to long. Seeds are spherical, up to in diameter.Tropical Species Database
/ref> The species is similar to '' M. warburgii'' (also present in Samoa), but with shorter leaflets and with second-order branching in the inflorescence instead of third-order.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15467299 Flora of Samoa paulcoxii Plants described in 1998