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Borassus akeassii
Arecaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Borassus akeassii

Borassus akeassii

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

Borassus akeassii is found in savannah areas with seasonal rainfall and a mean annual rainfall in the range 800 - 1,100mm[1, 2]. Requires a sunny position and a well-drained soil[1]. Found in the wild on light, well-drained soils[3]. Plants are able to extract nutrients, and thus grow, on very nutrient-poor soils[1]. Established plants are drought tolerant[4]. Established plants are highly resistant to bush fires[1, 3]. A slow-growing but long lived tree to over 100 years old[1]. It does not start flowering until middle-aged[1]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required

Propagation

Seed - it has a short viability and should be sown as soon as it is removed from the fruit pulp[1]. The seed does not require pre-treatment and germinated in about 4 weeks. The plant produces a very long taproot, which can be 1 metre long when top growth is only 1cm tall, and so it is best sown in situ[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Borassus+akeassii>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Seed Leaflets — Various · Forest & Landscape. Denmark · http://en.sl.life.ku.dk/Publikationer/Udgivelser/PopulaerPublikationer.aspx?katid={D28373CC-6EF3-4EF8-B097-6D83FABF209E}&serieid={9F1C3DB1-6E7B-4CF1-AF53-F480B0CB40EF}&sort=title ↩︎A series of leaflets, jointly produced by the University of Copenhagen and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, focussing on seed information for a number species, but also giving a lot of other information about each plant.
  2. [2]A Revision of Borassus L. (Arecaceae) — Bayton R.P. · 2007 · http://www.jstor.org/stable/20443389 ↩︎
  3. [3]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  4. [4]Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia. — http://www.pacsoa.org.au/ ↩︎Contains at least a little information on the majority of palm and cycad species, plus a wealth of photographs. A first class website.
  5. [5]Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics : an Inventory — Martin, F. W.; Campbell, C. W.; Rubertbe, R. M. · U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service · 1987 ↩︎A booklet giving terse details of almost 300 species of edible fruits, plus regional lists of Botanical and Common names for over 2,500 less well-known edible fruits of the tropics.
  6. [6]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  7. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎