Horticultural distribution and subsequent naturalization of Queen Palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana) in south-eastern Australia.

Introduced to Australia in the 1860s, Queen Palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana) (family Arecaceae) became a popular ornamental plant in indoor and outdoor settings in the late 19th Century. Queen Palms saw a revival in popularity being heavily promoted in the 1960s and 1970s, resulting in extensive plantings commonly associated with new housing developments and business premises. The propensity of the species to fruit liberally, and its potential in being dispersed by the Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), has led to the plant being declared an environmental weed in some parts of New South Wales and Queensland. Drawing on data derived from a geographically structured image survey of real estate listings, this paper presents the first distribution map of horticulturally planted and maintained Queen Palms in south-eastern Australia. A comparison with the distribution of naturalized Queen Palms permits us to characterize the biogeographical parameters that circumscribe the horticultural limits of the plant in Australia and the parameters that define its naturalized range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]