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''Metroxylon'' is a genus of monoecious flowering plants in the Arecaceae (palm) 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.〔(Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families )〕 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 (hapaxanthic), foliage is pinnate with over-sized 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".〔Riffle, R. L. and Craft, P. (2003). ''An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms''. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-558-6 / ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6 (page 389)〕 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.〔 It contains the following species 〔WCSP, World Checklist of Arecaceae: (''Metroxylon'' )〕〔 * ''Metroxylon amicarum'' (H.Wendl.) Hook.f. – Pohnpei, Chuuk * ''Metroxylon paulcoxii'' McClatchey – Samoa * ''Metroxylon sagu'' Rottb. – Sago Palm – New Guinea, Maluku * ''Metroxylon salomonense'' (Warb.) Becc. – Salomon Palm – New Guinea, Maluku, Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu * ''Metroxylon upoluense'' Becc. – Samoa * ''Metroxylon vitiense'' (H.Wendl.) Hook.f. – Fiji Sago Palm – Wallis & Futuna Islands, Fiji * ''Metroxylon warburgii'' (Heimerl) Becc. – Santa Cruz Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Metroxylon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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