Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (King Palm)

Native to eastern Australia, this palm has a single trunk and can reach about 100 feet tall. It grows beside streams, in rainforest gullies, and in swampy ground. Old fronds fall naturally, leaving a smooth green crownshaft. Separate male and female flowers grow on the same plant, and birds eat the fruits and disperse the seeds. In the warmer parts of its Australian range, it flowers and fruits throughout the year. Aboriginal Australians used its leaf bases as water carriers. Widely planted as an ornamental, it is invasive in Brazil and northern New Zealand. Photographed in the department of Quindio, Colombia.