Orania palindan

A large, single-stemmed canopy palm native to New Guinea (widespread from the Bird’s Head Peninsula to north-central New Guinea) and also occurring in the Philippines, Sulawesi, and the Moluccas. It reaches 30–40 m (≈100–130 ft.) with a gray trunk 15–40 cm in diameter; leaves are pinnate, 10–15 in the crown and to about 6 m (≈20 ft.) long with a white indumentum beneath. The spreading, mostly glabrous inflorescences branch to two orders; fruits are very large, globose to bilobed, 6.5–7.5 cm (≈3 in) across, turning greenish-yellow to bright yellow at maturity. It grows in lowland and hill rainforest from near sea level up to about 800 m. Leaves are used for thatching and the hard outer trunk for house and bridge construction; bats eat the fruit while people consider it bitter and poisonous. Conservation status: Least Concern.

Weight: 1 lb. 1.4 oz.