A medium sized emergant fan palm, more closely related to Livistona , than to Pritchardia . This is the rarest palm in New Caledonia, with only a single mature plant known. It was quite plentifull in a restricted area, until the Prony penal colony was establised near by in the late 19th century, and the prisoners discovered that the palm heart was good eating. It didn't take long for it to become very unplentifull, and in fact was thought to be extinct, until 1980 when a pig hunter came across the only known specimen, and realised that it was something different. Warm, sheltered and moist when young, but becoming very resiliant as they get older.
Seed apparantly germinates readily, but the young plants can be difficult to establish.
P. jeanneneyi Figure 2.