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Actinorhytis calapparia
Actinorhytis is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family found in Oceania and southeast Asia. The lone species, Actinorhytis calapparia (commonly known as calappa palm) is a rain forest inhabitant and has very large fruit. The genus name is from two Greek words meaning 'ray' and 'fold' which describe the endosperm of the seed.
Actinorhytis calapparia is widely cultivated in Southeast Asia and Malesia where villagers attribute it magical or medicinal powers, or as a substitute to betel. They have little tolerance for drought, requiring generous water as well as nutrient rich soil; they do, however, exhibit some tolerance to cold.
Actinorhytis calapparia is native to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands thriving in lowland rain forest from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft). While understory subjects for much of their life, they eventually reach the top of the forest canopy. The species is also reportedly naturalised in Thailand, Sumatra, and peninsular Malaysia.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Actinorhytis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
