A palm-tree with a fiery streak! A tall tree that rises up to 20 m, it makes an unforgettable sight with the vivid red of its juvenile leaves. They remain red 10 days to three weeks.
The color varies from a deep burgundy through all intermediate colors to an intense pink. In like manner of a banner or a pennant, the newest leaves rise gloriously. What do they indicate, apart from their sheer newness? A flashy innocence? One-upmanship? We don’t know yet.
After their boisterous burst, leaves — eight to 10 feet-long — turn dark green and leathery to the touch. They are composed of opposing wide leaflets, about 10 cm (4 in) wide.
This splendid plant is found on acid rock or limestone alluvium in the rainforests of New Caledonia, in mountainous areas below 800-1,000 m (3,000 ft). The rainforest of New Caledonia, with an abundant annual rainfall of more than 1,5 m (5 ft), is a botanical cornucopia. It boasts more than 2,000 higher plant taxa, of which more than 80 % are endemic. Among palmtrees endemic to New Caledonia, this is the most widespread species. This robust palm, with a trunk more than 10 cm (4 in) in diameter, dates back to the Mesozoic, when dinosaurs roamed the planet.
Much later, towards the end of the twentieth century, this palmtree was nicknamed Flame Thrower in the United States. Nurserymen, dealing in exotic plants in Southern California and Florida, competing for their clients’ attention, advertise their wares with such audacious comparisons.
The genus was named in 1873 after Léon Chambeyron (1827-1891), a first lieutenant in the French Navy. He was a pioneer who explored and charted the coasts and some of the interior of New Caledonia— James Cook named it thus in 1707 in fond recollection of his native Scotland — during four successive long-range survey voyages: 1859-1863, 1868-1873, 1875-1877 and 1879-1881.
Coming back to the bright leaves as they come out, could this feature, highly visible also to birds and insects, be related to dissemination of the seeds? This could be its biological function.