Licuala spinosa

{{Short description|Species of palm}} {{Speciesbox |image = Licuala spinosa 1zz.jpg |image2 = Mangrove Fan Palm (Licuala spinosa) 3.jpg |genus = Licuala |species = spinosa |authority = Roxb. | synonyms = * ''Corypha pilearia'' Lour. * ''Licuala acutifida'' var. ''peninsularis'' Becc. * ''Licuala horrida'' Blume * ''Licuala pilearia'' (Lour.) Blume * ''Licuala ramosa'' Blume | synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:667962-1#synonyms |title=''Licuala spinosa'' Roxb. |date=2024 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref> }}

'''''Licuala spinosa''''', also known as the '''mangrove fan palm''', is a species of palm in the genus ''Licuala''.<ref name="POWO"/> The plant is native to the wet places of fresh and salt water of Southeast Asia.<ref name="dyphon">{{cite book |last1=Pauline Dy Phon |title=Plants Utilised In Cambodia/Plantes utilisees au Cambodge |date=2000 |publisher=Imprimerie Olympic |location=Phnom Penh |page=406|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InD2RAAACAAJ|author1-link=Pauline Dy Phon }}</ref>

== Botany == Mangrove fan palms grow up to {{convert|2|to|7|m|ft|abbr=on}} high, with a trunk of 4-7 cm. It may grow in clumps. It prefers full sun, a lot of water, and is more cold hardy than most ''Licuala'' species.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Licuala/spinosa.html |title=''Licuala spinosa'' at Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia |access-date=2012-09-01 |archive-date=2012-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323180455/http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Licuala/spinosa.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Uses == A Cambodian name for ''L. spinosa'' is ''pha'aw'', in that region its leaves are used to make hats and wrap food.<ref name="dyphon" /> Its heart and terminal bud prepared as a vegetable are appreciated by Cambodians. In traditional Cambodian medicine, both a febrifuge remedy and for a preparation for the health of the foetus, use the root of the palm in compounds, while the bark of the trunk is used to treat tuberculosis.

==Gallery== <gallery> Mangrove Fan Palm (Licuala spinosa) 1.jpg Mangrove Fan Palm (Licuala spinosa) 2.jpg Licuala spinosa.jpg|conservatory specimen Mangrove Fan Palm (Licuala spinosa) 4.jpg </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commonscat inline}} *{{Wikispecies inline}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q5227738}}

spinosa Category:Flora of Asia Category:Garden plants of Asia