Livistona benthamii (Bentham's Fan Palm)

Native to southern New Guinea and northern Australia, this single-stemmed palm can reach about 60 feet tall. It grows in swamp forests, riverine woodland, and seasonally flooded lowlands. A rounded crown carries deeply divided fan-shaped leaves whose segment tips hang downward. Old leaf stalks often remain attached as projecting stubs, with coarse fibers around their bases. Curved black spines line the lower portions of the living leaf stalks. Branched flower clusters develop among the leaves, followed by small, smooth fruits that turn purple-black when ripe. Individual trees function as male or female, so fruiting requires pollen from another tree. Photographed in Florida.