Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu, is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750 kilometres (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 540 kilometres (340 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of the Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji.
Sago is a starch extracted from the spongy centre, or pith, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak, rabia and sagu. The largest supply of sago comes from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia. Large quantities of sago are sent to Europe and North America for cooking purposes. It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a glue-like paste (papeda), or as a pancake. Sago is often produced commercially in the form of "pearls". Sago pearls can be boiled with water or milk and sugar to make a sweet sago pudding. Sago pearls are similar in appearance to the pearled starches of other origin, e.g. cassava starch (tapioca) and potato starch, and they may be used interchangeably in some dishes.
Vegetable ivory or tagua nut is a product made from the very hard white endosperm of the seeds of certain palm trees. Vegetable ivory is named for its resemblance to animal ivory. Species in the genus Phytelephas, native to South America, are the most important sources of vegetable ivory. The seeds of the Caroline ivory-nut palm from the Caroline Islands, natangura palm from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the real fan palm, from Sub-Saharan Africa, are also used to produce vegetable ivory.
Washingtonia filifera, also known as desert fan palm, California fan palm, or California palm, is a flowering plant in the palm family (Arecaceae) native to the far southwestern United States and Baja California. Growing to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) tall by 3–6 m (10–20 ft) broad, it is an evergreen monocot with a tree-like growth habit. It has a sturdy, columnar trunk and waxy, fan-shaped (palmate) leaves.
Aiphanes is a genus of spiny palms which is native to tropical regions of South and Central America and the Caribbean. There are about 26 species in the genus, ranging in size from understorey shrubs with subterranean stems to subcanopy trees as tall as 20 metres (66 ft). Most have pinnately compound leaves ; one species has entire leaves. Stems, leaves and sometimes even the fruit are covered with spines. Plants flower repeatedly over the course of their lifespan and have separate male and female flowers, although these are borne together on the same inflorescence. Although records of pollinators are limited, most species appear to be pollinated by insects. The fruit are eaten by several birds and mammals, including at least two species of amazon parrots.
Acanthophoenix rubra, the barbel palm, is a critically endangered palm endemic to Mauritius, Rodrigues, and La Reunion that is prized for its edible palm hearts.
The palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is one of two species of snout beetle known as the red palm weevil, Asian palm weevil or sago palm weevil. The adult beetles are relatively large, ranging between 2 and 4 centimetres long, and are usually a rusty red colour—but many colour variants exist and have often been classified as different species. Weevil larvae can excavate holes in the trunks of palm trees up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, thereby weakening and eventually killing the host plant. As a result, the weevil is considered a major pest in palm plantations, including the coconut palm, date palm and oil palm.
Carpoxylon macrospermum is a species of palm tree endemic to Vanuatu, and the only species in the genus Carpoxylon.
Clinostigma is a genus of flowering plant in the Arecaceae (palm) family, native to various islands in the western Pacific. It contains the following species:
Loxococcus rupicola is a species of palm tree, and the only species in the genus Loxococcus. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Metroxylon amicarum is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae, endemic to the Caroline Islands. It was named for the Friendly Islands, now Tonga, from where it was first thought to have descended. It is the only species in the Metroxylon genus which is not hapaxanthic.
Metroxylon is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the Arecaceae (palm) family, consisting of seven species. They are native to Western Samoa, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Moluccas, the Carolines and Fiji in a variety of habitats, and cultivated westward to Thailand and Malaya.
Neoveitchia is a genus of palm trees. It contains two known species, native to certain islands in the western Pacific:
Phytelephas seemannii, commonly called Panama ivory palm, is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is one of the plants used for vegetable ivory.
Veitchia is a genus of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae.
Oxera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae native to Vanuatu and New Caledonia in the western Pacific.
Metroxylon sagu, the true sago palm, is a species of palm in the genus Metroxylon, native to tropical southeastern Asia, namely Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and possibly also the Philippines. It is also naturalised in Thailand, in the Indonesian islands of Java, Kalimantan, Sumatra, and in the Solomon Islands.
Metroxylon vitiense is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae, endemic to the islands of Fiji, Ovalau, and Vanua Levu in Fiji. There is only one confirmed occurrence of M. vitiense on Vanua Levu, just outside Savusavu. Despite it being considered a threatened species by the IUCN, as of February 2013 M. vitiense was still unprotected by Fijian regulations and international legislation. It has also been reported from the nearby islands of Wallis and Futuna.
Metroxylon paulcoxii is a species of palm endemic to Samoa. It is reported there from the islands of 'Upolu and Savai'i. The species is named in honor of ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox.
Veitchia arecina, commonly known as Montgomery palm, is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It grows to between 25' to 35' and has white or yellow blooms.
