Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Caryota mitis Lour. (ARECACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Fishtail Palm, Rabok, Tukas

Description

Clumping palm to 4 m tall. Crown shaft elongated, 8-12 cm diameter. Bipinnately compound leaves, c. 2.5 m long, leaflets c. 15 cm long, narrowly to broadly triangular with fishtail tips. Inflorescence many-branched, pendulous, c. 30-60 cm long. Both male and female flowers produced on the same individual but at different times. Individual trunk dying after flowering and fruits maturing. Fruits globose, maturing black, c. 1.5 cm across.


Ecology

Lowland forest, common in secondary and disturbed areas.

Distribution

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, most of SE Asia.

Uses

It is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental but gets rather untidy as old stems die off after fruiting.