Hyphaene compressa
Hyphaene compressa
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant of the arid to dry tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,400 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 30°c, but can tolerate 15 - 35°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 300 - 800mm, but tolerates 200 - 900mm[1]. Plants grow well in full sun, even when small[2]. Found in the wild on poorly drained, light, dry soils of low fertility[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 5.5 - 7.5[1]. Established plants are drought tolerant. The plant requires a high water-table and hot climate for good growth[3]. Plants succeed in moist tropical climates where temperatures never fall below 10°c, the average annual rainfall is 1,500mm or more and the driest month has 25mm or more rain[2]. They can also succeed in drier areas with an annual rainfall as low as 250mm and one month or more where rainfall is below 25mm[2]. Dioecious, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[4].
Propagation
Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Hyphaene+compressa>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
- [2]Palms of the World — Blombery. A. & Rodd. T. · Angus and Robertson · 1992 · ISBN 0-207-14848-1 ↩︎An excellent guide, well illustrated, with information on cultivation, uses, habitat etc of almost 200 species of Palms.
- [3]Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania — Ruffo, C.K.: Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B. · Regional Land Management Unit; Nairobi. · 2002 · ISBN 9966-896-60-0 ↩︎A very well presented, simple guide to growing and utilizing wild food plants in Tanzania, with line drawings of each plant, a description, habitat and range, non-food as well as food uses, plus basic information on growing the plants.
- [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
- [5]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.