Arecaceae FAMILY
Raphia australis
Raphia australis
Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthMedium
The plant likes full sun, and bad drainage. Given these conditions, it can be very fast growing, one of the fastest of all palms[1]. A monocarpic plant - growing for 20 - 40 years without flowering, then producing a massive inflorescence and dying after setting seed[2, 1].
Propagation
Seed - fresh seed grows easily once the outer scales have been removed. Seedlings need filtered sunlight, plentiful water and protection from wind[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Raphia+australis>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]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.
- [2]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.
- [3]PlantZAfrica.com — http://www.plantzafrica.com ↩︎An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
- [4]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.