The closest relative of the tree that once dominated Easter Island
Added 2019-06-29 15:28:37 +0000 UTCPaschalococos disperta (Rapa Nui palm or Easter Island palm), was the native cocoid palm species of Easter Island. It disappeared from the pollen record circa AD 1650.
It's thought that this tree's closest living cousin is Jubaea Chilensis, or the Chilean Wine Palm, pictured here. Of the more than 2,600 known species of palms, Jubaea chilensis is the second most massive, and grows up to 20-25 m tall.
Despite the extinction of the tree, this palm appears to have been represented two hundred years later in the Rongorongo script of Easter Island with the glyph 
