Family: Arecaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Grows in tropical/subtropical climates (hardiness 10B–11)
  
• Widely introduced and cultivated as an ornamental
  
• Spiny-edged leaves (especially when young)
  
• Host for lethal yellowing (serious palm disease)
  
• Tolerates wide range of soils (loamy, sandy, clay, acidic, alkaline, salty, drought)
  
• Propagules intentionally dispersed by people
  
• Tolerates partial shade

Low Risk Traits:

• No evidence of naturalization or weediness
  
• Dioecious (requires male and female trees for seed)
  
• No vegetative reproduction; only seeds
  
• Slow growth; 4+ years to reproductive stage
  
• Large fruit (1.5–3 inches) limits unintentional dispersal
  
• Low seed production (few hundred per tree)
  
• Seeds viable only 2–3 weeks
  
• Single trunk – fire or mutilation is lethal