Family: Arecaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Host for agricultural pathogen (sugarcane disease)
  
• Highly flammable, increasing fire risk
  
• Seeds bird-dispersed (fleshy fruits)
  
• Widely cultivated and intentionally introduced in tropics
  
• Seeds survive gut passage
  
• Tolerates wide range of soil types

Low Risk Traits:

• No evidence of naturalization or weediness anywhere
  
• No spines/thorns/toxicity; palm cabbage is edible
  
• Single-trunk, non-clumping growth habit
  
• No vegetative reproduction; no dense thickets
  
• Large seeds—unlikely to disperse by wind, water, or as contaminants
  
• No persistent seed bank (germinates in 2–4 months)
  
• Limited climate range (USDA zones 10B–11); frost-intolerant