Travellers palm
Encyclopedia
Ravenala madagascariensis, commonly known as Traveller's Tree or Traveller's Palm, is a species of plant from Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. It is not a true palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...

 (family Arecaceae) but a member of the bird-of-paradise family, Strelitziaceae
Strelitziaceae
Strelitziaceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The plants are very similar in appearance and growth habit to members of the related families Heliconiaceae and Musaceae...

. Ravenala madagascariensis is the sole member of its genus, and is closely related to the southern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

n genus Strelitzia
Strelitzia
Strelitzia is a genus of five species of perennial plants, native to South Africa. The genus is named after the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, birthplace of Queen Charlotte of the United Kingdom. A common name of the genus is bird of paradise flower, because of a supposed resemblance of its...

and the South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n genus Phenakospermum
Phenakospermum
Phenakospermum is a monotypic genus in the family Strelitziaceae. Only one species is recognized, Phenakospermum guianense, native to Surinam and the eastern Amazon River basin...

. Some older classifications include these genera in the banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

 family (Musaceae
Musaceae
Musaceae is a botanical name for a family of flowering plants. The family is native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. The plants have a large herbaceous growth habit with leaves with overlapping basal sheaths that form a pseudostem making some members appear to be woody trees.The family has been...

).

Name

It has been given the name "traveller's palm" because the sheaths of the stems hold rainwater, which can be used as an emergency drinking supply,specially for the traveller (its bangladeshi common & local name is 'pantho padop', and also because the fan tends to grow in an east-west line, providing a crude compass. The enormous paddle-shaped leaves are borne on long petioles, in a distinctive fan shape aligned in a single plane. The large white flowers are structurally similar to those of its relatives, the bird-of-paradise flowers Strelitzia reginae
Strelitzia reginae
Strelitzia reginae is a monocotyledonous flowering plant indigenous to South Africa. Common names include Strelitzia, Crane Flower or Bird of Paradise, though these names are also collectively applied to other species in the genus Strelitzia...

and Strelitzia nicolai
Strelitzia nicolai
Strelitzia nicolai, commonly known as the Giant White Bird of Paradise or Wild Banana are banana-like plants with erect woody stems reaching a height of 6 m and the clumps formed can spread as far as 3.5 m ....

, but less attractive. In tropical and subtropical regions, the plant is widely cultivated for its distinctive habit and foliage.

Ruffed lemur
Ruffed lemur
The ruffed lemurs of the genus Varecia are strepsirrhine primates and the largest extant lemurs within the family Lemuridae. Like all living lemurs, they are found only on the island of Madagascar...

s are a known pollinator
Pollinator
A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain...

 of this plant, and given the size and structure of the inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

s, as well as the lemur's selectivity, method of feeding, and long muzzle, this relationship is thought to have co-evolved
Co-evolution
In biology, coevolution is "the change of a biological object triggered by the change of a related object." Coevolution can occur at many biological levels: it can be as microscopic as correlated mutations between amino acids in a protein, or as macroscopic as covarying traits between different...

.

Foliage

The traveller's palm has paddle-shaped leaves which are lined symmetrically on a plane and this symmetry gives it a fan
Fan (implement)
A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...

-like shape. The colour of the palm varies slightly from the tip of the leaves which are green, to the end of the leaf stem which is yellow.

Trunk

It has a trunk which develops as it matures. During its early years its trunk is covered by the leaf bases, but as it grows older, it progressively loses the lowest or oldest leaves and reveals a sturdy grey trunk.

Culture

The plant requires a sunny spot (not full sun until it is larger). It responds well to fertiliser, especially if it is high in nitrogen during the growing season. This produces better growth and foliage. The plant grows to an average height of 7 meters and requires moderate water.

Gallery

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK