the trees occupy niches within the landscape that insulate them from periodic flooding. Cultivation The species is represented in cultivation by two of the subspecies, one from the central desert, the other from the tropical coast. Livistona mariae are slow growing palm trees that eventually attain a large height and an emblematic form. The subspecies L. mariae subsp. mariae is a desirable garden specimen referred to as the central Australian cabbage palm and presented as a feature plant. A specimen in an exhibition – along with the cycad Macrozamia macdonnellii from the MacDonnell Ranges – sought to demonstrate the horticultural potential of central Australia flora in modern gardens at the Geelong Botanic Gardens. A potentially tall tree with attractive foliage and fruit, Livistona mariae subsp. mariae has a may attain a height of 15 metres in cultivation. The surface pattern of the trunk is regular and neat in appearance, a feature of the persistent leaf bases of the earlier growth, and the width gradually narrows toward the crown. The leaves are reddish during early growth, forming fronds up to 3 m in length and extended out on a long petiole. The tree generally known as L. rigida, also misnamed as L. mariae subsp. mariae in horticulture, is similar in form to the central desert subspecies but potentially larger in size. The more robust trunk of this taxon may reach a height of 20 m and the leaves, also reddish when young, reach lengths up to 4 metres. This palm is best grown in Australia in the arid central regions, when provided with adequate moisture, and the wet tropical coastal to sub-coastal regions of the north-east of the continent, with the most success in gardens north of Coffs Harbour. Propagation of the plant is from seed. Conservation status The three subspecies are listed in various regional and national conservation plans, the status and trajectory of these populations is classified separately. This recognises an arrangement by Rodd that placed Livistona rigida and L. mariae and his newly recognised taxon in a subspecific arrangement. The remote population at Finke Gorge, once listed as L. mariae, is thus amended to L. mariae subsp. mariae for conservation purposes following its taxonomic revision. The significance of these palms was recognised in a national conservation plan intended to improve the trajectory of thirty Australian plants, actions that would reduce factors that threaten the trees with extinction. The