Palmeria (plant)

Plants in the genus Palmeria are dioecious woody climbers or climbing shrubs. Its leaves are sometimes have wavy edges, and are papery to thinly leather-like. The flowers are borne in racemes or panicles in leaf axils usually with 7 to 15 flowers (sometimes up to 40 flowers), covered with star-shaped hairs. Male flowers are cup-shaped to flattened hemispheres with 4 to 7 tepals and many stamens. Female flowers are spherical or urn-shaped with about 5 tepals usually with 5 to 10 carpels and a linear stigma. The perianth is fleshy, and splits to reveal a sessile drupe.^[2][3]

The genus Palmeria was first formally described in 1864 by Ferdinand von Mueller in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae and the first species he described (the type species) was Palmeria scandens.^[4] The genus name (Palmeria) is in honor of Sir James F. Palmer.^[5]

The following species of Palmeria are accepted by Plants of the World Online as at April 2024:^[6]

• Palmeria angica Kaneh. & Hatus. New Guinea
• Palmeria arfakiana Becc. Sulawesi, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago
• Palmeria brassii Philipson New Guinea
• Palmeria clemensae Philipson New Guinea
• Palmeria coriacea C.T.White Queensland
• Palmeria foremanii Whiffin Queensland
• Palmeria gracilis Perkins New Guinea
• Palmeria hooglandii Philipson New Guinea
• Palmeria hypargyrea Perkins New Guinea
• Palmeria hypochrysea Perkins New Guinea
• Palmeria hypotephra (F.Muell.) Domin eastern Queensland
• Palmeria incana A.C.Sm. New Guinea
• Palmeria montana A.C.Sm. New Guinea
• Palmeria racemosa (Tul.) A.DC. Queensland, New South Wales
• Palmeria scandens F.Muell. New Guinea, Queensland, New South Wales
• Palmeria schoddei Philipson New Guinea
• Palmeria womersleyi Philipson New Guinea