Red latan palm  (Latania lontaroides)

Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List (1).

The red latan palm is an attractive, medium to large, fan palm restricted to a small strip of coastline on a single island in the southern Indian Ocean (1) (3). The rounded crown is made up of numerous, two to three metre wide, palmate leaves, while the straight, deep-grey trunk is lined with closely packed rings where the leaf sheaths have fallen away (2). When young, the stiff leaflets are distinctively tinged with red, hence this palm’s common name, but with age take on a deeper green colour (2) (3) (4). A dioecious species, male and female flowers are found on separate plants (5).

Endemic to Reunion Island, where it occurs on the coast between Petite Ile and Saint-Philippe (1).

Grows on cliffs and in coastal ravines (3).

The red latan palm is a relatively hardy species with a high salt tolerance (5).

This once common palm, has declined in extent and abundance due to increasing agriculture and the expansion of human settlements (1).

There are no known conservation measures in place for the red latan palm, but this species is cultivated as an ornamental palm around the world (2) (4).

To find out more about the conservation of palms, see:

• IUCN Palm Specialist Group:
  http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/about_ssc/specialist_groups/directory_specialist_groups/directory_sg_plants/palm_sg/