Ravenea sambiranensis

Ravenea (rah-vehn-EH-ah) sambirinensis (sam-bihr-ih-NEN-sis)
Photo by Christophe Jardinier.
Scientific Classification
Genus: Ravenea (rah-vehn-EH-ah) Species: sambirinensis (sam-bihr-ih-NEN-sis)
Synonyms
None set.
Native Continent
Africa
Morphology
Habit: Solitary Leaf type: Pinnate
Culture
Survivability index
Common names
Anivo; Anivona; Mafahely (general); Soindro (Tsimihety); Ramangaisina (Betsimisaraka).

Habitat and Distribution

North West, West and East Madagascar, Manongarivo to Marojejy and down the East coast to Vangaindrano;

Madagascar.

outlier in Bemaraha area. Littoral forest on white sand, dense moist forest or dry montane forests, steep slopes, hill crests or on almost level ground; in the West in remnant riverine forest; 1-2000 m. POLLINATION AND DISPERSAL. Flowers visited by bees and small flying beetles (pers. obs.); fruit eaten by Madagascar Blue Pigeon, and defecated seeds germinating well (as did seed from fallen fruit)

Description

Slender tall palm. TRUNK 2-30 m. high, 5-29 cm. in diam. (near crown 5-10 cm); basal boss 25-40 cm high, 32-50 cm across, with surface roots; internodes 2-13 (-18) cm (near crown 1-4 cm), nodal scars faint or clear, 2-4 cm; rarely with; sheath remnants present below the living crown; bark soft, pale grey or brown; outer wood with very hard black fibres; heartwood soft, white. Base of crown bulbous, 18-40 cm across. LEAVES 10-28 in the crown, porrect, arching to strongly arching; sheath 12-70 x 10-20 cm, whitish or brown-tomentose externally, in young leaves entire and fibrous, rupturing opposite the petiole when ageing and then the margins with hard fibres; petiole 13.5-76 cm, proximally 1.3-7 x 0.6-4 cm across, convex and white- or brown-grey-pubescent abaxially, slightly convex, flat or concave with sharp edges adaxially, distally 0.9-3 x 0.5-1.6 cm, glabrescent, dull green; rachis 0.6-2.5 m long, in mid-leaf 1.2-3.4 x 1-1.7 cm across, convex and white- to red- or grey-brown-tomentose to puberulous abaxially, glabrescent, adaxially in the proximal part with a channelled keel, more distally with a flattened keel 4-5.5 mm wide, more distal becoming angular and sharp; leaflets rigid, lanceolate, oblique, straight, acute, sometimes pendulous in their distal 1/3 (rarely in one plane), dark green, arcuate, the tips somewhat bent over, 35-67 on each side of the rachis, the proximal 20-78 x 0.2-3.3 cm, median 40-100 x 1.3-4 cm (interval 3.5-5 cm), distal 6-63 x 0.3-2.7 cm, the top pair sometimes connate for up to 2 cm, abaxially on the midrib (and sometimes on the veins) with rather many small ramenta in young leaves-none, or only basal ones in older leaves, main veins 2-7. STAMINATE INFLORESCENCE interfoliar, multiple in 5s-9s, the central ones maturing before the outer ones, erect; individual inflorescences 30-117 cm, branched to 1 or 2 orders; common prophyll membranous, 2.5-23 x 5-12 cm, rounded, tattering, densely tomentose abaxially, glabrous adaxially; peduncle 25-74 cm, 5-9 mm across proximally, distally 3-7 mm across, green, grey-brown tomentose to glabrescent; peduncular bracts respectively 7-35 x 3.2 cm (inserted at 0-0.4 cm from the base of the peduncle), 20-60 x 2-2.2 cm (inserted at 1-2 cm), 56-125 (inserted at about 3 cm), 68-125 x 5.3 cm (inserted at about 7 cm), all white- to grey-brown-tomentose abaxially, adaxially cream, smooth and glabrous; non-tubular peduncular bract 1.5-3.7 x 0.4-0.6 cm, but in Beentje 4501 a non-tubular peduncular bract inserted at 53 cm, 25 x 1.7 cm, membranous, adnate to the peduncle for 21 cm; rachis 20-54 cm, cream, densely pubescent proximally but glabrescent or with flaking patches, with 12-65 branched and 7-38 non-branched first order branches; proximal rachis bract 1.3-20 x 0.6 cm; first order branches at base 3-4 x 2 mm, with 3-6 rachillae; rachillae porrect, 3-23 cm, 1-1.5 mm across, sinuous, cream, with dense flowers above a 2 cm bare base; pedicels 0-1 mm; bracteole 0.7-1.8 x 0.5-0.8 mm, narrowly triangular, acute.

Culture

Slow growing. Cold Hardiness: USDA zones: 9b