Laccospadix is a monotypic genus—i.e. a genus that contains only one species—in the palm family Arecaceae. The sole described species is Laccospadix australasicus, commonly called Atherton palm or mountain mist palm, which is endemic to Queensland, Australia.
Description Laccospadix australasicus is a small feather-leaved palm that may be solitary or clustering, in the former the trunks will grow to around diameter while clustering plants are closer to . The trunks may be dark green to almost black at the base, lightening with age, and conspicuously ringed by leaf scars. They will reach up to in height while the suckering varieties grow to about . They have six to eight pinnate leaves emerging erect with a slight arch, reaching up to long. The leaflets are long and narrow with pointed tips, glossy green above and paler underneath, and they reach up to long by wide.
The inflorescence is an unbranched spike up to long, emerging from within the leaf crown. It carries both (functionally female) and (functionally male) flowers, both with three petals and three sepals. The fruit is a red, slightly ovoid drupe about long and wide. It has a smooth epicarp and a thin fleshy mesocarp and contains a single yellowish seed about long.
Distribution and habitat It is found in eastern Queensland between Cooktown and Townsville, at altitudes from . It inhabits mountain rainforest, where it grows as an understory plant, most often on granite-based soils.
References
External links
Laccospadix on NPGS/GRIN Fairchild Guide to Palms: Laccospadix GBIF portal Plantsystematics.org with images Photos at PACSOA