Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Dictyosperma album (Bory) Scheff. (ARECACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Princess Palm

Description

Solitary feather-leafed palm to 9 m tall, c. 15 cm diameter, with swollen base. Crown shaft light green to grey to almost white. Leaves 2.4-3.6 m long, leaflets regularly arranged. Inflorescence c. 60 cm long, just below the crown shaft, simply branched and enclosed in 2 bracts in the bud stage. Fruits ovoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, c. 1.5 cm long, ripening black or purplish.


Distribution

Endemic in the Mascarene Islands, close to extinction in the wild.

Uses

Often planted as an ornamental palm.