Etymology:
Latin confertus, crowded, referring to the close crowding of the leaflets on the rachis.
Historical notes: Distinguishing features: Characterised by the stiff, strongly spirally twisted leaves with short, broad, often hairy petioles, and stiff, closely crowded, light green leaflets with inrolled margins. Distribution and habitat: A sporadic and probably rare species, occurring in eucalypt woodland on shallow podsolic soils on drier rises. Conservation status: Known only from a few stands, not well conserved and potentially under threat (IUCN Red List category VU; ROTAP category 2V-). Gazetted as a Rare or Threatened Plant under Queensland Nature Conservation legislation. 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants category V.
Description:
Plants acaulescent, stem 9-15 cm diam. Leaves 1-5 in crown, bright green, highly glossy to semiglossy, 35-60 cm long, strongly to moderately keeled, with 90-160 leaflets; rachis strongly spirally twisted, straight, stiff; petiole 7-21 cm long, straight to recurved, unarmed, 7-12 mm wide at lowest leaflets; basal leaflets not reducing to spines. Leaflets simple, strongly discolorous; margins incurved; apex entire, not spinescent; median leaflets 6-30 mm long, 2-6 mm wide. Pollen cones fusiform, 7-18 cm long, 2.5-4 cm diam.; microsporophyll lamina 9-17 mm long, 7-16 mm wide; apical spine 0-5 mm long. Seed cones narrowly ovoid, 6-12 cm long, 3.5-6 cm diam.; megasporophyll lamina 1.7-2 mm long, megasporophyll with an expanded peltate apex 2.4-3.2 mm wide, 0.6-1.2 mm high; apical spine 0-10 mm long. Seeds ovoid, 20-25 mm long, 16-20 mm wide; sarcotesta red.
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