This palm was originally known as Ptychosperma alexandrae.
It is native to the coastal areas of Eastern Queensland.
Common names are the Alexandra (not Alexander), King and Northern Bangalow palm.
Almost always described as a solitary palm they do sometimes form clusters in the wild.
They are common in Brisbane and are occasionally seen in clusters here.
Fully grown they can be 25 to 30 m high but are usually less in cultivation.
The slender erect cylindrical trunk is 20 to 30 cm across.
The base is often wider and can be up to 50 cm.
Greenish at the top, old trunks are grey with prominent leaf scars.
Close and depressed at the top the scars fainter and wider apart at the base.
Old trunks may also have vertical fissures.
The crown has up to 12 pinnate leaves on a petiole up to nearly 40 cm long.
The upper surface of the petiole is grooved and the lower is rounded.
Blades, up to 3 or 4 m long have a midrib that is angled on the upper surface.
The rounded lower surface is densely covered in short rust coloured hairs.
The midrib is twisted sideways at about the middle and the end bends down.
The around 70 leaflets (pinnae) on each side of the midrib are in one plane.
The longest, in the middle are around 70 cm long and 4 cm wide.
They are closely spaced, have a pointed tip and a prominent midrib.
The upper surface is dark green and small scales make the lower grey-green or whitish.
The leaf sheaths form a pale green crownshaft around 1 m long.
Swollen at the base, it has a whitish waxy coating and may have a purplish-brown tinge.
Inflorescences, at the base of the crownshaft are a panicle up to 1 m long.
On a thick short peduncle up to 15 cm long they are branched 4 times.
The green then brown prophyll (basal bract), nearly 80 cm long is flattened.
It has wings down the sides and black scales at the base.
The shorter 1 (or 2) peduncular bract has a pointed tip.
The horizontal to slightly erect midrib has many pendulous branches (rachillae).
Up to 70 cm long they have flowers in spirally arranged groups of three.
The side male flowers are up to 1 cm long and wide when fully open.
The 3 sepals, 2 mm long have a pointed tip and a keel.
There are 3 overlapping cream petals up to 7 mm long and 3 mm wide.
The up to 16 stamens are up to 1 cm long.
Dorsifixed anthers have 2 long basal lobes and an apical appendage.
The pistillode, sometimes with 3 apical branches is around the same length as the stamens.
Female flowers are only 4 mm long with 3 wide sepals.
The 3 free petals have overlapping bases and the edges of the tips touch each other in the bud.
The superior ovary has 1 locule with 1 ovule.
The 3 small staminodes are on 1 side of the ovary.
Fruit, up to 1.5 cm long have the calyx and stigma remnants attached.
Almost spherical they ripen from green to bright red.
There are flat largely unbranched fibres around the single seed.
J.F.
