Pritchardia pacifica

17 Apr

Pritchardia pacifica (23/03/2013, Kew Gardens, London)

Position: Full sun to light shade

Flowering period: Summer

Soil: Moist, well drained

Eventual Height: 10m

Eventual Spread: 3m

Hardiness: 10b, 11, 12, 13

Family: Arecaceae

Pritchardia pacifica is an evergreen palm tree with a single stem. Its mid green leaves appear as a nearly round, barely split flat fan and are up to 1.8m long. Its trunk may achieve a diameter of up to 30cm. Its yellow/ green flowers appear as panicles which may be up to 11m long and appear from the leaf axils. Its brown fruit are spherical and up to 12mm across.

Pritchardia pacifica, commonly known as the Fiji Fan Palm, is native to Tonga. In its native habitat it grows in tropical dry forests.

The etymological root of the binomial name Pritchardia is named after W T Pritchard, the first British consul to be appointed to Fiji in 1858. Pacifica is derived from the Latin meaning ‘of the Pacific’.

The landscape architect may find Pritchardia pacifica useful as an attractive palm for tropical climate, particularly in coastal regions.

Pritchardia pacifica Bark (23/03/2013, Kew Gardens, London)

Pritchardia pacifica prefers moist, fertile, well-drained soils. It tolerates most pH of soil. It will not tolerate dry soils. It will tolerate salty soils.

Pritchardia pacifica requires little maintenance.