Pigafetta is a genus of two palm species in the family Arecaceae.[1]

Pigafetta
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Calamoideae
Tribe: Calameae
Genus: Pigafetta
(Blume) Becc.
Species

They are native to the Maluku Islands, Sulawesi, and New Guinea[2] where they grow near rivers and in forest clearings up to 900 m in elevation. It is named for Antonio Pigafetta and is sometimes misspelled as Pigafettia. Thought to contain only one species, in 1994 it was recognized to have two; P. elata and P. filaris,[2] both of which are among the fastest growing palms.

Description

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These dioecious palms have green, solitary trunks with widely spaced leaf scar rings. The trunks grow to 45 cm in diameter and 35 m in height; the leaf crown is hemispherical, or nearly so, with 6 m pinnate leaves on robust, 2 m petioles. Petioles are armed with 6 cm spines, gold or gray in color. Inflorescences emerge from within the leaf crown, to 2 m in length, and resemble those in Mauritia. The fruit ripens to a yellow-orange drupe, covered in scales and containing one seed.

References

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  1. ^ "Pigafetta". Palmpedia.net.
  2. ^ a b Plants of the World Online: Pigafetta (Blume) Becc. (retrieved 30 March 2020)