Coccothrinax borhidiana

Synonymy: None Distribution: Endemic to a very small area of northern Cuba
Common names: Borhidis guano palm Conservation status: Critically endangered

Large adult plant in habitat

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Closeup of small adult plant showing lace pattern and base
of inflorescence (top right) and infructescence (left).

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Flowering adult plant

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Closeup of inflorescence

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Juvenile plant (same plant as above, one year earlier)

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Seedling

This palm easily surpasses any other Coccothrinax in appearance, including the famed C. crinita. Native only to a small coastal area in the north of Cuba, where it grows in stunted coastal vegetation, it is seriously threatened with extinction. It is a smallish palm with a slender trunk thickly clothed in a coat of undulated fibers, topped by a very dense crown of closely spaced, circular, rigid, thick and leathery, dark green leaves that are held on short petioles. This palm is without doubt the most desirable of all of the Coccothrinax.

Top photo courtesy and copyright © 1999, Paul Craft. Middle three photos courtesy and copyright © 1999, Brian Sheahan. Bottom two photos copyright © 1998, Jody Haynes. All but the top and bottom photos taken at the Tropical Research & Education Center, Homestead, FL.

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