Acoelorrhape wrightii

Erect palm, with a compact crown, made up of 25-30 palmate leaves with long delicate stems of up to a 1 m., with curved orange spines on the edges spaced at 3 cm. apart. Acoelorrhaphe is a genus of palms, comprising the single species Acoelorrhaphe wrightii (Paurotis palm, also known as the Everglades palm, Madiera palm and Silver saw palmetto). It is native to Central America, southeastern Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and extreme southern Florida where it grows in swamps and periodically flooded forests. It is a small to moderately tall palm that grows in clusters to 5–7 metres, rarely 9 m tall, with slender stems less than 15 centimetres diameter. The leaves are palmate (fan-shaped), with segments joined to each other for about half of their length, and are 1–2 m wide, light-green above, and silver underneath. The leaf petiole is 1–1.2 m long, and has orange, curved, sharp teeth along the edges. The flowers are minute, inconspicuous and greenish, with 6 stamens. The trunk is covered with fibrous matting. The fruit is pea-sized, starting orange and turning to black at maturity.