In the tropical rainforests of North Queensland in the wet season the creeks can become raging torrents, and much of the creek-side vegetation gets smashed. So any plant that is a specialist at hanging on against the onslaught will come to dominate the banks. The Alexandra Palm, Archontophoenix alexandrae is such a specialist.
Regional ecosystem 7.3.10c - Mesophyll Vine Forest with subdominant feather palms
The shallow bank on the inside of a tight turn is the ideal place for the seedlings to get started. After reaching the two primitive leaf stage they put a lot of energy into developing anchoring roots before growing taller.
Subsequent leaves look very similar to the climbing palm Calamus moti, apart from the spines on the stems of "Wait-awhile".
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The leaves are large and the petiole clasps the trunk, giving a distinctive glossy green
look to the upper part of the trunk. When the leaves fall away, they leave distinctive
leaf scars behind on the trunk. The leaf bases were used by aborigines as baskets. The Tully River tribes call the tree "Ko-paranga". 
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When the tree gets its crown into the canopy it will begin to flower. Fruit bats seem to like to eat these, judging by the number of pieces broken off in the night.
The fruits develop into hard, red drupes, spherical or slightly ellipsoid to 14 mm, with very little flesh on a single seed with numerous vein-like fibrous ridges on the surface.
These fruits are a real favourite of the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), and they will go to any lengths to reach the last ones.
However they are also very messy feeders, so they drop a lot of fruits on the ground and into the creek. The ones in the water may be washed onto a bank downstream, and the ones on the ground are soon found by cassowaries.
The cassowary has a very gentle and fast moving digestive tract, so some seeds pass through them without being fully digested. The cassowary sometimes eats these fruits a second time.
In the hot, humid conditions, it is not long before the seeds germinate.
This precise location went at least a metre underwater after the last big rain - 308 mm in one day in January 2009, so these seeds will need to be strong competitors if they are to survive to maturity. Probably only one will make it.
These photos and many more are also available through Dave Kimble's Rainforest Photo Catalog