Pigafetta
(name not explained by its author). ORD. Palmae. A genus comprising three species of tall palms, with robust trunks prickly above, natives of the Malayan Archipelago and New Guinea. Flowers polygamomonaecious, spirally disposed; spadices paniculately much branched, the peduncle and primary branches forming a tubular, incomplete spathe. Fruit globose or oblong, one-valved, one-seeded. Leaves terminal, pinnatisect; segments opposite and alternate, lanceolate, acuminate, with the margins recurved at base; petioles slightly terete, unarmed or prickly. P. elata, the only species in cultivation, is a very elegant palm. It requires culture similar to Metroxylon (which see).
P. elata (tall). fl., spadices long, with pendulous branches. fr. globose, with a solitary, depressed, blackish seed. l. spreading and drooping, very similar to those of Cocos; petioles thick, with long bristles, which become spiny with age. Trunk of very hard wood, erect, simple, naked, annulate. Celebes. SYNS. Hyospathe elata (of gardens), Metroxylon elatum.