Raphia farinifera

Welcome to the PACSOA Palms and Cycads wiki! If you have any information about this species, please help by updating this article. Once you are registered you can contribute, change, or correct the text, and even add photos on this page. Click on the edit tab above and play around. Any mistake can be easily corrected, so don't be afraid.

Figure 2. Mature R. farinifera and the people who live under them.

Common Names:

Rafia Palm

Distribution & Habitat:

The edges of rivers and lakes in Madagascar and East Africa.

Description:

A very spectacular palm, with a trunk to about 10 m. The leaves up to 20 m long, (amongst the largest in the plant kingdom), point almost upright. The stems are monocarpic, (see flowering farinifera).

General:

These palms are the source of raffia fibre, which is made from the leaf bases.

Cultivation:

These palms like very wet feet, and a tropical or sub-tropical climate. They are best suited to parks or large gardens, because of their very large size.

Figure 1. R. farinifera in habitat

Figure 3. R. farinifera

Figure 4. R. farinifera fruits.

Contributed by:

Jeff Nugent, Permaculture Plants (Figure 1,2,3&4)

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk