Roystonea regia (florida) 25 seeds

The king palm (Roystonea regia) is an erect, up to 25 meter high palm. The trunk of this palm is unusually smooth, due to the fact that old leaves are completely repelled. This has the risk that passing hikers can get a leaf of up to 20 kg on their head.

The leaves are pinnate, up to 3.5 m long, rising steeply to relinquishing or slightly lowered and arcuate overhanging. The inflorescences grow under the smooth, green, slightly thickened leaf sheath bundle at the base. The flowers are yellow-white and grow in large, strongly branched panicles. The spherical, 1 cm large fruits ripen from green through red to black.

The king palm is native to Cuba and Florida. Initially, the Florida form was considered Roystonea elata to be a separate species. The palm is mainly planted in parks in tropical America. In Cuba, the king palm is used as an indicator of fertile soils. The areas where it naturally occurred have therefore been almost entirely cleared into fields. Due to its elegant growth form, the king palm is usually spared, so it has not become rare. In Cuba, the palm is seen as a national symbol; an image of it is therefore in the coat of arms of Cuba.