Karl Izembek, surgeon of the Russian ship Moller, was the first to write of the species.

[2] By the time the German zoologist, Hugo Schauinsland, visited in 1896, all the palms had been killed.

He blamed human activity, citing evidence of palm wood in charcoal.

Dense forests were hypothesized to exist, based on historic palynology.

Based on the photographic evidence, it has been suggested that the species was identical to Pritchardia remota (Nihoa fan palm).