Palms   Lemurophoenix habitat

The following is a description of the area where L. halleuxii was discovered: I found it at about 5-600m altitude on a north east slope at 10 km from the sea. Moisture very very high all year long, not far from saturation. I should say, but there are no data available at this time, at least 4 to 5000 mm rain a year (two seasons; the wet one (Dcember to May, with daily hard rain) and the moist one (winter with almost permanent light rain)), no dry season, eventually few days without rain in October, November. Fresh nights in winter around 10° C or a bit less highest temperature around 30° C. The spot must be right now included in the Masoala National Park. Young palms are growing in very shaded area under dense rain forest and most of the adults we found were in forest on slopes and top of little rounded hills on poor red soil with quartzites with a few cm of organic litter. Few seeds were seen germinating around adults though they were plenty of them. Malagasy say that they are eaten by wild pigs, potamocherus. The picture you have of young palms in cultivation is very different (short and large instead of long and thin) of wild ones cause of the amont of light which is poor in the wild. Best regards, Dominique Halleux