Roscheria
The genus is named for Albrecht Roscher, a 19th-century German explorer, and the epithet for its single species R. melanochaetes derives from Latin and Greek meaning 'black' and 'bristle', alluding to the spines covering the trunks.They naturally occur on the Mahé and Silhouette Islands of Seychelles where they grow in mountainous rainforest and are threatened by habitat loss.The trunk reaches 8 m in height at 8 cm in diameter, usually straight, featuring distinctive rings near the crown.Unlike most crown-shafted species, the inflorescence in R. melanochaetes emerges from the leaf axil rather than beneath the shaft.Growing naturally in rain forest understory, they also require shade when young, as well as moist, humus rich soil.