Metroxylon
Metroxylon is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the Arecaceae 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.
The name is formed from the combination of two Greek words, metra - "womb", commonly translated as "heart" in this context and xylon - "wood", in allusion to the large proportion of pith contained in the plant.
Description
The trunks of Metroxylon species are solitary or clumped and large to massive in size, and usually sprout aerial roots at leaf-scar rings. All but one is monocarpic, foliage is pinnate with oversized petioles and leaf sheaths. The petioles are distinguished by "groups of small black spines resembling the record made by a seismograph as it registers a mild tremor". All species have spines on the rachis and petiole. The monocarpic species present a Christmas tree shaped inflorescence, or instead, upward-reaching branches spreading horizontally. The fruit, covered in tough scales, are relatively large for palms and contain one seed.Extant species
It contains the following species| Image | Name | Common name | Distribution |
| Metroxylon amicarum Hook.f. | Caroline ivory-nut palm | Pohnpei, Chuuk | |
| Metroxylon paulcoxii McClatchey | Samoa | ||
| Metroxylon sagu Rottb. | Sago palm | New Guinea, Maluku | |
| Metroxylon salomonense Becc. | Solomon palm | New Guinea, Maluku, Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu | |
| Metroxylon upoluense Becc. | Samoa | ||
| Metroxylon vitiense Hook.f. | Fiji sago palm | Wallis and Futuna, Fiji | |
| Metroxylon warburgii Becc. | natangura palm | Santa Cruz Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu |