Solitary spineless palm. Trunk woody, grey, to 15 m tall, 40 cm wide. Leaves 13-30, costapalmate, green to silvery grey, to about 3 m across, divided one quarter to one third and the tips shortly divided. Leaflets 50-77, rigid and waxy, folded upwards in a V-shape. Leaf stalk smooth or occasionally with minute teeth. Panicle arising among the leaves. Flowers unisexual, the sexes on different plants. Fruit 4-5 cm across, dark brown.
Madagascar
The commonest naturally-growing palm in Madagascar. Mainly grown in the tropics and subtropics but can be grown in a warm sheltered sites on the south coast of New South Wales. A very impressive palm when well grown.
Common in Madagascar where the trunks are used for construction and the leaves for roofing and basketry; the pith is eaten as a slightly bitter sago.
Huge green to silvery grey trunk; midribbed palmate leaves with rigid leaflets; leaf stalks unarmed.
Qld: Brisbane (Bot. Gds).
Source: (2005). Arecaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
