Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Needle palm is a shrubby, clumping, nearly trunkless, fan palm that grows to 3-6? tall and as wide. It is native to moist to wet woodlands, slopes, ravines and stream bottomland in the southeastern U. S. (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi). It is one of the hardiest if not the hardiest of the palms. It is noted for its large, palmate, glossy green leaves that grow on long upright petioles (to 30? long). Each deeply divided leaf (almost to the base) is fan-shaped (to 30 inches across) with 5-12 narrow segments (each to 20? long). Leaves are evergreen. Genus name is from Greek meaning sharp (rhapis) and leaf (phylum). The specific epithet (from Greek meaning porcupine) and the common name of needle palm are both in reference to the long, stiff, sharply-pointed, needle-like, black spines (to 6? long) that project from the leaf sheaths. Spines make the clumps impenetrable to most wildlife. Three-petaled, yellow-brown flowers in small dense clusters bloom in early summer among the leaf sheaths. Flowers are usually hidden by the foliage. Fruit is a reddish brown drupe