Kampala Tree and Palm Directory

Tree Species
Common Name
Tree Description
Tree Uses

English: Queen palm, Butia palm, Cocos palm, Feathery coconut, Giriba palm.

+ Tree Species

Syagrus romanzoffiana

+ Tree Family

Arecaceae

+ Ecology

Queen palm is native to South America.  It is found in forest areas, commonly along river banks and sea coasts, sometimes to more elevated regions, and often in large stands. It can also be found in a variety of habitats from seasonally dry forests, swampy areas and coastal forests.

+ Description

Queen palm is a single-stemmed, evergreen palm tree growing 7 - 25 metres tall. The unbranched stem can be 30 - 50 cm in diameter; it is topped with a graceful, drooping canopy of 7 - 15 leaves that can be 3 - 4 metres long.

BARK:  smooth, grey, with widely spaced rings (i.e. horizontal leaf scars).

LEAVES: thick main stalk, with a large stem-clasping base (i.e. sheath), and numerous (300-500) very elongated leaflets. Each of the green strap-like leaflets is up to 1 m long and to 3 cm wide. These hairless (i.e. glabrous) leaflets have entire margins and pointed tips (i.e. acute apices). They are borne in different planes, giving the leaves a three-dimensional, feathery (i.e. plume-like) appearance.

FLOWERS: large, clusters are initially enclosed in two bracts, one of which is very large and becomes woody and boat-shaped with age. These branched flower clusters (i.e. panicles) are up to 2 m long and contain numerous small yellowish or cream-coloured flowers. Separate male and female flowers are present in these clusters. The stalkless (i.e. sessile) flowers are borne in groups of three, with one of these being female and the other two being male.

FRUIT: crowded into very large hanging clusters, egg-shaped (i.e. ovoid) and turn from green to yellow and then orange when fully mature. The have a hard woody centre and fleshy outer parts (i.e. they are drupes).

+ Uses

Edible: young apical bud is sometimes eaten as a vegetable; fruit can be eaten raw.

Medicine: fruits. http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php id=Syagrus+romanzoffiana

The leaves, or the fibres obtained from them, are used for making baskets, hats etc.

The wood is used for various constructional purposes, as stepping boards over swampy areas, footbridges and rustic piers in salt water.

The trunks are frequently hollowed out to make water pipes.

An ornamental palm.

+ Propagation

Seeds.

+ Management

Fast growing. Pruning.

+ Remarks

The plant is gathered from the wild for its edible fruit and young buds, which are consumed locally. The plant is also widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas as an ornamental plant.



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