Pritchardia

Image:Pritchardia limahuliensis.JPG|thumb|Pritchardia limahuliensis
[Image:Starr 050407-6220 Pritchardia thurstonii.jpg|right|240px|thumb|Pritchardia palms]
The genus Pritchardia consists of between 24 and 40 species of fan palms found on tropical Pacific Ocean islands in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuamotus, and most diversely in Hawaii. The generic name honors William Thomas Pritchard, a British consul at Fiji.

Description

These palms vary in height, ranging from. The leaves are fan-shaped and the trunk columnar, naked, smooth or fibrous, longitudinally grooved, and obscurely ringed by leaf scars. The flowers and subsequent fruit are borne in a terminal cluster with simple or compound branches of an arcuate or pendulous inflorescence that is longer than the leaves.

Species

There are 29 known species, of which 19 are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, with the remainder on other island groups. Many are critically endangered.
Oahu has the most named Pritchardia species of any of the Hawaiian islands, with nine named species on record in 1980. Eight of those species can be found in the rainy Koolau Range.Pritchardia affinis Becc. - Hawaii Pritchardia Pritchardia arecina Becc. - Maui Pritchardia Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii H.St.John Pritchardia bakeri – Pritchardia beccariana Rock - Kilauea Pritchardia Pritchardia flynnii Lorence & Gemmill Pritchardia forbesiana Rock - Mt. Eke Pritchardia Pritchardia glabrata Becc. & Rock Pritchardia gordonii Pritchardia hardyi Rock - Makaleha Pritchardia Pritchardia hillebrandii Becc. Pritchardia kaalae Rock - Waianae Range Pritchardia Pritchardia kahukuensis – Pritchardia lanaiensis Becc. & Rock - Lānai Pritchardia Pritchardia lanigera Becc. Pritchardia limahuliensis H.St.John Pritchardia lowreyana Rock - Molokai Pritchardia Pritchardia maideniana Pritchardia martii H.Wendl - Koolau Range pritchardia Pritchardia minor Becc. - Alakai Swamp Pritchardia Pritchardia mitiaroana Dransfield & Ehrhardt Pritchardia munroi Rock - Kamalo Pritchardia Pritchardia napaliensis H.St.John Pritchardia pacifica Seem. & H.Wendl. Pritchardia perlmanii Gemmill Pritchardia remota Becc. - Nīhoa Pritchardia Pritchardia schattaueri Hodel - Giant Pritchardia Pritchardia tahuatana Pritchardia thurstonii F.Muell. & Drude Pritchardia viscosa Becc. - Stickybud Pritchardia Pritchardia vuylstekeana H.Wendl. – Tuamotu ArchipelagoPritchardia waialealeana R.W.Read Pritchardia woodfordiana Pritchardia woodii Hodel

†Pritchardia sp. "Laysan"

Formerly placed here

Licuala grandis H.Wendl. Washingtonia filifera H.Wendl.

Relationship with humans

Native Hawaiians often plant the trees in their traditional homes. They often consume their seeds raw, use their trunk wood as building material and leaves as roof thatching in houses and temples.